I tried to create my own pancakes with oatmeal and gluten-free flour, and something went horribly, horribly wrong. Ah well. That’s what peanut butter sandwiches are for, right? At least the fried cranberry-apple topping was delicious.

Yum.

Every morning, I end up dedicating about an hour to everyone’s breakfast. First comes Henry, then the dogs and the cat, and then my breakfast. Sometimes, I make double for the Husband’s breakfast, too (depending on if it’s something he’ll like); sometimes, he makes breakfast for me.

I’ve talked about pet food a bit before, but I thought with a new fur family member in the house, it was a topic worth re-visiting.

Funny dog quirks: as you can see in the picture above, James takes each bite of kibble out of his bowl and drops it on the floor before eating it (so annoying as someone who is a little obsessed with clean floors). And Maggie will stand immediately behind him until he is ‘done,’ and then she’ll swoop in and lick his bowl clean.

Pippa eats on top of the powder room toilet to protect her kibble from the dogs Maggie. I want to write a post about Pippa’s adjustment soon, but let me say this – she is definitely Alpha. She is in charge of Maggie, and James and Pippa are slowly working out who is in charge, but judging from the stare down competitions, Pippa is winning.

So – what do we feed the animals? Maggie and James eat Organix wet and dry food. I selected Organix because organic, free-range chicken is the first ingredient in the dry food. The product name is a bit misleading because not every ingredient is organic, but lots of them are organic. Also, the dry food contains no corn, wheat, or soy (corn is a filler used in a lot of dog food). We used to feed them a cheaper brand and corn was the first or second ingredient; their coats are noticeably shiner since we switched a few years ago.

We started off feeding Pippa a bag of the big-name cat food that she was fed at the foster home – we didn’t want to mix it up when she was trying to adjust to a new family. She’s currently eating a bag of Natural Ultramix Adult Cat Food by the same company that makes Organix. The first ingredient is conventional chicken, and the food is grain-free. I might switch her to another food soon; she seems to be fine with this type but not overly excited about it (plus, I’d like to buy organic). I know there’s a lot of debate on whether to feed cats wet or dry food (wet – good for kidneys because of the extra water; dry – good for the teeth because of the crunch), so I give her a little scoop of the dogs’ wet food every morning with her dry food. I figure there’s nothing wrong with the middle ground.

For a while we tried feeding our older cat a mix of regular adult cat food and the special weight control food for older cats. She would literally eat around the special weight food and only eat the regular kibble pieces. Her weight is (more or less) where it should be now so we’re back to the regular food only and I think everyone is a lot happier and certainly less meowy!

DeanneNovember 30, 2012, 3:11 pm

This kinda reminded me of my older cat (lives at my parents house). She is on a special diet of medical wet food and dry food. If you feed her either seperate she won’t eat it. If you just put the wet food in a dish as is she will stick her paw in it and then lick the food off her paw, then switch paws. By the time she is finished the ENTIRE floor is smeared with wet cat food. So the solution: take her wet food mix it with water so it becomes mushy but not to watery, then mix in no more than 5 dry cat kibbles. To many cat kibbles and she won’t eat it, to much water and she won’t eat it, to little water and it becomes paw paint. Oh and she won’t drink out of a bowl, you have to run the sink for her to drink out off like a water fountain.

KristyNovember 30, 2012, 7:01 pm

My dogs do this too. Sometimes I mix a special treat in their bowls and they pick out the yummy food and leave a crazy mess of kibble EVERYWHERE!

StaceyNovember 30, 2012, 9:08 am

Love hearing about your animal adventures! My finance and I are thinking about getting our Chihuahua, Bowser, a brother or sister, but we are nervous about how he will react. How do you share the loveeee??? lol

A funny habit of Bowser’s is: He has these two long skinny fox toys ( that he has of course bitten the heads of off) that he has to sleep with every night in bed ( and in bed I mean our bed) Every morning I wake up and find one of the foxes cuddled under the covers!

RachelNovember 30, 2012, 9:09 am

Our dog, Madi, will only eat if she has water right next to her food bowl! Gotta stay hydrated.

LMNNovember 30, 2012, 9:10 am

Our boston terrier, Homer, loves Cheetos. He will jump in the air to catch them! He won’t do this for any other food. And yes, his regular food is healthy, the cheetos are served in moderation. 🙂

My cats have three bowls (one for each of them), but they only ever eat out of one. They take turns eating, out of one bowl. I’ll just end up dumping the food from one of the other bowls into the favorite bowl when it gets empty. My cats are weird!

StaceyNovember 30, 2012, 9:10 am

haha.. you totally wanted a funny eating habit… well I got plenty of those too! lol

Bowser does the same thing James does! He takes his hard dog food and brings it onto the carpet and then chomps away. Then he will walk back and forth over and over again! It drives me crazy, especially when I step on a piece of hard dog food that Bowser forgot!

NadineNovember 30, 2012, 9:10 am

I feed the dogs every morning. Some days, Emma will not eat all day long. Then, as soon as I decide it’s time for bed and turn out the lights, she runs into the dark kitchen and starts chowing. I end up hanging out, just waiting to go to bed, until she’s had enough to eat. Crazy dog!

We have an 11 month old chocolate lab puppy and he will not touch his food until his water bowl is full too…. then once he finishes eating all of his food (in about .2 seconds) he HAS to drink all of the water before he leave the kitchen. If there is no water, he will not eat!

Such a picky dog!!!

Michelle MNovember 30, 2012, 9:11 am

Similar to James, my old dog used to bring mouthfuls of food up from the basement and eat them on the family room carpet. I guess she wanted to be closer to us? My hubby and I are hoping to adopt a dog this coming week – what a perfect giveaway!

Our dog will get two or three pieces from his bowl and walk about 5 ft away from the bowl to eat them. Back and forth, back and forth. It’s pretty funny =)

JenniferNovember 30, 2012, 9:13 am

Dolly (my basset hound) doesn’t have time to have weird eating habits. The food bowl is empty in 30 seconds!

HopeNovember 30, 2012, 9:13 am

My dogs both eat as fast as they possibly can. Then they switch bowls and lick them even though they are empty.

mimiAugust 26, 2013, 6:46 am

Wow, this is great, Hope! Would you please share with me what type of dog food inspires such enthusiasm. 🙂

HollyNovember 30, 2012, 9:14 am

Our cat Alice will meow and whine when we open 1) beef jerkey 2) beer. She will not eat any human food except for those two. It is hilarious.

ShadyNovember 30, 2012, 9:14 am

I’m not going to weigh in on the dry vs wet food debate as I know it’s been discussed here previously. But I will say this. You should not be feeding your cat dog food. Dog and cat foods are different in the ratio of macros that they have which are species specific. Canned cat food is easy to find and it appears from your food choices that you’re already making regular trips to a local pet store for specialty food, so next time you’re there why not just toss in a couple of cans of cat food? Pippa will be healthier for it.

I’m not sure where you got the impression that she feeds her cat dogfood, because it’s clearly stated that Pippa eats cat food, made by the same company that makes Maggie and James’ food. I would think that with all of Caitlin’s attention to nutrition, she wouldn’t make such a mistake as to feed her cat dogfood.

SarahNovember 30, 2012, 11:36 am

“… I give her a little scoop of the dogs’ wet food every morning with her dry food.”

CaitlinNovember 30, 2012, 11:50 am

i feed her a little wet dog food but i seriously don’t think this is a big deal.

You can order pet food on Amazon. Just in case you do have a hard time getting there before they run out. I know you’re a big Prime shopper so maybe this will solve the problem 🙂

TaraNovember 30, 2012, 11:51 am

At the end, Caitlin says that she gives Pippa a little of the dogs’ wet food. And yes, cat food and dog food are different so it isn’t really the best option for Pippa long term. Just my 2 cents

AshleyNovember 30, 2012, 12:17 pm

Caitlin, I’m sure it’s not a big deal that you’re giving your cat wet dog food (as long as your cat is getting some sort of cat-intended food) in the way that eating regular old non-organic food isn’t a big deal, however, wet cat food is really good for cats, just the way organic food is ultimately the healthier choice. Kidney failure is really common for cats, so ultimately their wet food is even more critical than their dry food (they can live with dental issues, but not with kidney failure). I feed my cat a little dry and a little wet cat food. I know a few people have weighed in on this and you’re right, it’s not the end of the world, but wet cat food is different than dog wet food, so why not give her what is ultimately best for her (esp. since wet cat food is no more expensive and doesn’t really require any additional effort than wet dog food)?

CaitlinNovember 30, 2012, 1:36 pm

Thanks for this nice inquiry! I just haven’t gotten her cat-specific wet food yet because I haven’t been back to the pet store since we bought her – the new kitty food we’ve been giving her is a hand-me-down from my friend Nicole. I’m sure she’ll be fine for a bit, but I plan to get her some of her own yummy nom noms soon.

JenNovember 30, 2012, 12:50 pm

It is a big deal…Pippa has nutritional requirements that are entirely different from James & Maggies. To me that’s like thinking it’s okay to throw Henry a bit of coffee once in a while since it’s handy (obvi a stretch). As Shady said, you’re already hitting up the pet store – why not spend $2.00 and grab her 4-5 small cans of wet food? You can give her half a can each day and store the other half in the fridge.

Rob RunsNovember 30, 2012, 9:16 am

Somehow, over the past three years, Phoebe our Great Dane has become so spoiled that she won’t eat her dry food without something “special” on it. Usually it’s a sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese (now dubbed “Phoebe cheese” in our house, even if we use it on people food). Sometimes I use a little peanut butter, or rice, yogurt, or a spoonful of wet dog food. If I give her dry food she’ll just look at the bowl, look at me, and walk away. I’m sure if she got hungry enough she’d eat it but I can’t resist a sad dog face.

mimiAugust 26, 2013, 6:52 am

I just LOVE people who pamper their pets … lucky Phoebe! 🙂

JenNovember 30, 2012, 9:21 am

My cats love to play “kibble.” They scoop a piece out with their paw and bat it around the kitchen. They stalk and pounce on the kibble like it’s prey. Unfortunately, the kibble game results in small crunched up bits of food scattered all over the kitchen floor. It hurts so much to step on it! So, we have to sweep daily. I don’t even want to know how much kibble is under the appliances…

ChristineNovember 30, 2012, 9:22 am

My Thor is similar to James in that he won’t eat out of a bowl. He’ll hit the bowl and spill the food on the floor and eat it. To save him the trouble, I use to put the food directly on the floor, but sometimes he wouldn’t finish it (a big pain to pick up uneaten kibble). Then I came up with the idea to buy him a plate. It works great! Now when he doesn’t finish, I can just pick up the plate. (I have another dog who is on a special diet and loves to steal his brother’s food.) Of course in the chaos of Thanksgiving, his plate got misplaced and he wouldn’t eat off the floor anymore. Luckily, we found it in another room a couple days later.

My cats William and Dr. Jones beg and beg for food meowing loudly and once you put down the food (we give them wet food at dinner time and have dry food always available) Dr. Jones chows down and William doesn’t touch his food until everyone is gone(apparently he likes to eat in private with no one around including Dr. Jones). Crazy cats.

ElizaNovember 30, 2012, 9:23 am

Sydney the yellow lab will snarf her 2 cups of dry food in less than 60 seconds. When finished, she will, like clockwork, move her head to the water bowl next to the food bowl, lap up some water and then splash it into the empty food bowl to assist in the licking of crumbs that may be left over. Repeat 4 times. Every. single. time. It’s quite amusing!

WhitneyNovember 30, 2012, 9:24 am

I have two dogs and when I put their food bowls infront of them at the same time they automatically switch bowls! It’s like they want to make sure the other one isn’t getting something better. haha 🙂

bobbieNovember 30, 2012, 9:25 am

Couple of funny things about our Dog Duffy and his eating habits. First of all, when it gets close to dinner time he starts picking up his empty bowl and flipping it all over the kitchen…resulting in a clingity clangity noise and dragging it across the floor. It’s quite funny most of the time but when you are in the middle of something it can be quite annoying. Anyway, no mistaking when he’s hungry! The other funny thing is that a while back when we switched his bowls to deeper stainless steel bowls because he was getting bigger and the other bowls were very small, he got completely freaked out and would stand and bark at the bowls and then see his reflection in them and run. We finally put them away because he wouldn’t eat from them. A couple of months ago we brought them back out and he’s fine with them now. He is one funny pup who celebrates his 1st Birthday in a few weeks!

W have one cat who is an absolute pig. She’ll eat anything: red peppers, asparagus, spicy chili, squash, peas, lentils, you name it. Once she took a leak out of a pot of soup and carried it around the house growling like she had killed it.

Whew! I do read fast, but there for a minute I thought you were going to say she took a “leak” into a pot of soup! 😮 I’m sure you meant to say “leek.” 😉 …and Amy is right, this is absolutely ‘hilarious!’ :))

Ever since our bulldog puppy got her bowl stuck on her collar (don’t ask), it has taken us WEEKS to get her to eat her food in the morning; for a while she’d only eat it as far away from the spot of the “bowl stuck on her collar” situation as possible. Now we’ve progressed to her eating without her collar. Whatever works, right?

SusanNovember 30, 2012, 8:16 pm

This is totally like our bulldoog, Sookie. She once got startled by the toaster oven door falling open (it’s above her food and water bowls) and now–a couple of weeks later— she keeps looking warily up at the oven as she drinks. She has phobias. Gotta love bulldogs!!

MarkNovember 30, 2012, 9:27 am

We have two dogs as well. The male is a speedy eater–I often wonder how he can shovel it down so fast. When he’s done, he’ll go sit behind the female, who enjoys eating slowly just so she can be territorial about her food once he comes over.

AliNovember 30, 2012, 9:28 am

My cat “drinks” off her foot! Instead of putting her face to the water bowl, she dips her foot in and then licks it off…then walks all over the hardwoods. I’d get mad if it wasn’t so cute! 🙂

laurenNovember 30, 2012, 9:30 am

My dog Oscar always drops the first bite of food on the floor and then eats it up off of there before polishing off the rest of the bowl.

JessicaNovember 30, 2012, 9:31 am

We just adopted a dog a couple of months ago, Applesauce (the foster home named her… we just call her Sauce or Saucey). She must have picked up her table manners from the foster home or the 9 other pups she lived with because we were pleasantly surprised by how polite she is! When I am preparing her bowl she runs into her crate, tail wagging, and when I turn around to give it to her she sits and waits until the bowl has hit the floor- then she pigs out!
When we give her any type of treat, whether earned by a trick or just because she deserves it, she will very carefully and slowly take it out of our hand and either run away with it or put it on the floor.
Our favorite is when she eats baby carrots– she eats them like corn on the cob– small bites in little rows!! 🙂
Love her!

oh my goodness, what weird habit doesn’t my brother’s dog exhbit! One thing she loves to do is just stuff her face down into the couch cushions and breath out heavily… We call it her “ostrich impression.” I’d love to know what is going on in her head.

AllisonNovember 30, 2012, 9:32 am

My dog Kobuk eats his food out of a Kong Wobbler, which is basically a big cone (shaped like a kong0 with a weighted bottom and a hole in the side, so he’ll push it all around the living room, under the couch, under the tv stand, under his bed, and crawl right after it. Then he spends another 15 minutes checking under all the furniture for bites of kibble he may have missed the first time around.

AmandaNovember 30, 2012, 9:32 am

Our puppy George will either inhale his food, or take it to different places in the house to nibble it. It depends how sleepy he is!!

jenNovember 30, 2012, 9:33 am

My cat, Franz, is a sensible eater. He nibbles at breakfast after pouncing on my face in the morning demanding I get up and feed him. Then he comes back to polish it off after running around and working up an appetite.

Susanna S.November 30, 2012, 9:33 am

My 8 month old puppy will “sneak” bites of cat food – pick them out of the bowl and go across the room to eat them 🙂 He waits until he is SO hungry to actually eat his puppy food!

LindsayNovember 30, 2012, 9:34 am

My dog also insists on eating off the floor and it drives my husband crazy! She used to literally pick her entire bowl up, carry it onto the carpet (from the kitchen tile) and then pick the food up in her mouth, and drop it on the floor before eating. We finally bought her bowls that are in a holder, so she can’t pick them up, and then we put a towel under her bowls in the kitchen so she still eats off the floor, but on the towel, which is much easier to shake out and wash…

ElizabethNovember 30, 2012, 9:35 am

My cat, Maizie, will only drink her water from the edge of her bowl. She literally leans all the way over the bow, to the far rim, and licks the water from the far edge. It’s so strange!

Stephanie CNovember 30, 2012, 8:50 pm

My DOG does this same thing! I thought it was so weird… maybe they don’t like getting water up their nose? Unless she is desperate, she also won’t drink the water if it’s below a certain point, because she can’t reach it when she tries to drink from the edge!

AmyNovember 30, 2012, 9:36 am

My dog will never approach her bowl straight on. After we put the food in the bowl, even if she is standing one foot away, she will walk in a circle around the perimeter of the room, squeeze between the table and the wall, and finally approach the bowl. It’s like she wants to prove that she is eating on her own terms. She’s the same way about getting in the kennel. It cracks me up every time.

The absolute funniest thing that my dog does is when he’s given a milk bone or a treat of some kind, he immediately runs away into the yard with it. It’s like he thinks if he hangs around someone will take it from him!

BarbieNovember 30, 2012, 9:38 am

When we first got our mini schnauzer, she wouldn’t eat out of the bowl AT ALL. The sound of the food clinking in the bowl scared her. We had to put the whole mound on the floor and I, like you, am a clean floor fanatic. Now, 7 years later, she eats out of the bowl but still scoops up a mouthful, drops half on the floor, eats it piece by piece, and then goes back for another scoop. I guess she thinks the bowl will gobble her up. Silly pups!

MarcieNovember 30, 2012, 9:39 am

My dogs mix the wet and dry food together with their snouts, SO cute

MeganNovember 30, 2012, 9:41 am

I have an english mastiff and when we give her a treat, she turns and sprints up the stairs to the landing. I guess she thinks we are going to change our mind and take it back!

SunnyNovember 30, 2012, 9:42 am

One of my dogs waits until right before bed and then eats all the food. If you refill the bowl he gives you a dirty look, its like he’s trying to say “Hey I just finished that! Do not fill it up, I don’t want the other dogs to have any” 😉

Jen G.November 30, 2012, 9:43 am

I have no funny pet eating habits to report, because I’m hopefully getting my first pet (a rescued mutt) this week! I have a home visit with the dog tomorrow, and should hopefully pick him up for good a few days later. That said, the PetsMart card would be awesome since I have all sorts of new doggy supplies to pick up 🙂

AprilNovember 30, 2012, 9:43 am

My dog will not eat out of a bowl that is overly full. I put in one cup of food. She eats it, then I put in another cup of food, and she will finish eating that. She will push it around with her snout for a while too before she starts to eat. She only gets dry food.

SaraNovember 30, 2012, 9:44 am

We have three cats and two dogs. Our cats have started meowing at 4:30 a.m. for their food. So annoying. Two of our cats are overweight so we’ve had to make some food adjustments. Our male cat tries to eat everyone’s food. Our dogs eat like they are starving. We bought them the dishes that look like a top hat so they eat slower. It sort of works. Our male dog (a Standard Poodle we adopted when he was three) will eat anything if you leave it out and aren’t watching. Lately he’s decided that flipping the trash can over is a good idea. One day, we heard a loud thump and a lot of noise and he had knocked the lid off the trash can and got the bag out that had freshly scooped cat *stuff* in it. It was all over the floor! HUGE mess and I’m pregnant and my poor husband had to clean it all up!

Melissa LNovember 30, 2012, 9:44 am

If we grab a different flavor of dog food, our lab has been known to eat around the one that she does not want whether it is the new one or the old one. To do this, she takes the one she doesn’t want out of the bowl “picking” the one that she wants. No worries the food does not go to waste – our golden comes in and cleans up!

AllieNovember 30, 2012, 9:45 am

My kitten likes to eat cucumbers. She will jump on the counter and put the entire cucumber in her little mouth and then jump down and run away when I am not looking. The entire, long, uncut cucumber.

She also licks her bowl throughout the day when there is no food in it. hah.

My two cats couldn’t be more different. Pumpkin will eat anything we leave out on the counter. I often find him liking the remnants of oil and salt/spice from the frying pan while the Fiancé and I are enjoying dinner. Little stinker! Pi, on the other hand, scoffs at wet food and always makes a motion like she is trying to cover it with litter (like it’s her doo doo). Love my odd little kitties!!! 🙂

KateNovember 30, 2012, 9:45 am

Our dog Hank gets the first half of his breakfast from a food dispensing stick toy (that he loves). The cutest thing though, it that every time the freezer is opened, he sits right under the door and patiently awaits an ice cube. Every. Single. Time. 🙂 If only my favorite “treat” was calorie, fat and carb free! 😉

ChristinaNovember 30, 2012, 10:19 am

can I ask what kind of food dispenser you use?? Our dog needs that!! She east soooo fast!

KateNovember 30, 2012, 2:26 pm

@ Christina, we actually got this toy as a chew toy, not intending to use it as a food dispenser, but it works perfectly. It is a hard rubber, brown toy that looks like a stick (probably 7 inches long). The end has a bit of an opening, but then where a branch would shoot off (if it was a real stick) there is a hole that allows us to fill it with kibble. I then put a little dollop of peanut butter in the end so he really has to “work” for the kibble. 🙂 He absolutely LOVES this thing. The first half of his breakfast is dispensed this way (about 2 stick-fulls) and then the rest he gets in his bowl.

I have also heard that placing kibble on something flat (like a cookie sheet) can help slow fast eaters down. And of course there is always the trick of putting a ball or other toy on top of the kibble, so they have to work around it.

My dog LOVES veggies. He will flip out more for carrots than he does for a milkbone sometimes.

He used to be really easily distracted from his food, and even would be picky about eating it. But about a month ago we switched him to Blue Wilderness (the shiny bag with the big husky dog on the front) and he devours it the second it hits his bowl. He also lost his doggy dandruff and his coat got shinier! It isn’t like we fed him crap before (he was eating some Nutro variant) but clearly he prefers fancier stuff. I might make him get a p/t job to pay for it!

Danielle M.November 30, 2012, 9:46 am

I have a 110lb. rottweiler puppy, yes puppy, named Bo. Despite his size he still thinks he’s Maggie or James’ size. He has a very sensitive stomach, so I have to prepare his food for him for every meal. When he knows I am preparing his food he stands beside me and jumps straight up and down like a BIG jumping bean. It is hysterical how excited he gets for his food! When we used to just feed him dry kibble he would do that same thing as James and take it out of his bowl, on to the carpet, inspect and then eat. You have to love the fur babies!!

EmilyNovember 30, 2012, 9:46 am

Our Springer Spaniel puppy eats his food fine, but his water is another story! He actually bites at the water when he drinks and doesn’t close his mouth when its full, leaving a nice trail of water on our floors, couches, people….basically anything in his path! Our Vet said sometimes dogs just don’t learn how to drink properly and apparently we were so *blessed* with one of those dogs 🙂 Althought annoying, it is pretty funny to watch!

Mami2jcnNovember 30, 2012, 9:47 am

Our poodle takes each piece of dog food (one at a time) to the carpet to eat. I wish he would stay on the hardwood floor where it’s easier to clean up.

JenNovember 30, 2012, 9:47 am

I have a toy poodle that “sorts” her dry kibbles out by shapes. Yes, she takes each one out of her bowl like your pup and puts them on her rug – piling them up by shape. It’s sooooo entertaining to watch!

IsabellaNovember 30, 2012, 9:48 am

Your breakfast concoction looks amazing!
My Hossie always drops his treats when he gets them, but usually just eats treats from his kong.
By the way, your pet family is way cooler than ours.

AlexandraNovember 30, 2012, 9:48 am

haha too funny! I love watching dogs and cats interact – such an interesting dynamic! We recently got a new Morkie puppy who dances for his food…it is the cutest thing! He will literally walk around on his hind legs for close to a minute letting us know that he is hungry.

AliciaNovember 30, 2012, 9:49 am

My dog likes to eat when she has company so she waits uintil we sit down or are at least in the room with her. Who can blame her, really? Most of us like company, do we not? 🙂

LindseyNovember 30, 2012, 9:49 am

We’ve always had more than one dog so our dogs always inhale their food! I think it’s the pack mentality. Some favorite foods our Labrador begs for are bananas and baby carrots. He’s totally uninterested in any meat. Gotta get those fruits and veggies in!

I have an American Cocker Spaniel I rescued after my first month moving to Korea (more than 5 years ago!). She snorts like a pig when she’s waiting for a treat. It’s so funny. Like many Cockers, she has a lot of ear infection issues and while I’ve always fed her high-quality dog food, the vet and I have come to suspect food allergies are the culprit for her infections and after 6 weeks on VERY expensive hypoallergenic food, she’s now on Canidae Pure Sea (grain free, corn free, salmon-based– we think she has a chicken allergy).
I can’t wait to move back to the US in a few months because high-quality food is 3-4x more expensive here in Korea because of import taxes.

AllisonNovember 30, 2012, 9:51 am

I’ve got three dogs each with their own quirks. My chihuahua does the same thing as James and likes to take a mouthful of kibble from her , drops it on the floor about 3 feet away, and eats it. My newfie likes to knock his bowl over (I have it elevated since he’s so tall) and eat the kibble off the floor. It drives me nuts. My aussie is a slow eater and takes a few mouthfuls at a time. It takes him all day to eat.
I also have a cat that just likes to eat out of the center of his bowl which creates a crater and he thinks the bowl is empty even though there is food along the sides of the bowl. He will wake me up in the middle of night to feed him!

My dog does the same thing with taking a piece of food out of her bowl, brings it from the laundry room where her bowl is straight onto the family room RUG, drops it in all its slobbery glory onto MY RUG and then trots back in to the laundry room to either repeat the process another few times or just decide to eat. And that’s why we have a cheap Home Depot area rug in that room. Weirdo.

didn’t know that about cats going blind! our cat is definitely not a vegetarian (he brings us lots of decapitated animals to prove he’s a ferocious carnivore…ew). but my parents’ dog is allergic to all meat except lamb, so he’s mostly a vegetarian. veeeery interesting.

My dogs eat the Nature’s Domain food from Costco and they seem to love it. But we’re contemplating switching our Newfoundland puppy to a more raw diet (a big maybe) because he’s having some skin problems that are common in the breed and might be helped by switching his diet.

Both of my dogs are total food grazers. I set their food down at 6 am and if it was up to them they’d just eat a little at a time all the way til noon. Too bad I leave for work at 7 so they only get an hour for breakfast!

ShephalliNovember 30, 2012, 9:54 am

We have an English Lab and he should eat everything – wrong! He only likes one brand of food – we tried to put him on an adult brand and he didn’t eat for two days, hates peanut butter but loves veggies!

AmandaNovember 30, 2012, 9:54 am

I didn’t realize I had inadvertently trained my puggle (pug + beagle). One day I was in the kitchen and dropped something and said “oops!” and I noticed Phoebe jump up with excitement in her eyes and sprint to me.

After that I noticed my natural reaction was the “oops” and I did it all the time and Phoebe knew my “oops” meant the eating was good! Now we use oops as a command when we want her to clean something we dropped while cooking

BrieNovember 30, 2012, 9:55 am

Our new kitten was found on the streets of the Bronx, we think that’s why he will eat anything!! His favorite thing is any kid of leafy green, he loves to play with it and if you try to take it- he growls! Also caught him trying to eat peanut butter, iced tea, and dog food, among other things!

ColleenNovember 30, 2012, 9:57 am

My cat eats a mixture of regular Dry kibble, and a larger special dental kibble for his teeth because he’s prone to tooth disease that has caused him to lose a few teeth. He will eat around the specialty kibble for what he considers the good stuff. Which is probably the junkfood version of cat food. 🙂

He also gets one small can of wet food a day that he normally gets fed when I get home from work. He will run to the door when he hears the garage open, and will follow me around and meow until I feed him. If it’s the weekend and we’re home, he will start meowing at 3:30 trying to get me to feed him the wet food.

carolNovember 30, 2012, 9:57 am

Love to watch my dogs eat, they go crazy for wet food

MaryNovember 30, 2012, 9:58 am

I’d say as long as Pippa drinks a little water each day she should be find with dry food. Wet food is more expensive! My cat is really good about drinking, but I know other cats that rarely drink water so wet food might be a better option in that case.

marieNovember 30, 2012, 9:58 am

When we first got our cats Thing I & Thing II, they would stuff their cheeks full of food, like chipmunks, then run in the corner, spit it out, and eat it. Karma, who has crossed the Rainbow Bridge, LOVED spinach. She knew which fridge drawer it was kept in and would come running to beg for some when I opened that drawer.

Re: the wet v. dry debate–tooth problems are a lot easier to deal with than kidney problems and usually are not fatal. Kidney problems, well, that’s a different story. Unfortunately, I speak from experience. My current kittehs are on a canned & raw diet and are doing well.

My cat will eat food out of the middle of the bowl, not the edges, then believe she’s done and insist she is still hungry. drives me crazy! haha

KatieNovember 30, 2012, 9:59 am

We have a dog and a guinea pig (who get along great!) and our dog loves to sit beside the guinea pig cage and stick her tongue through the cage to share the guinea pig’s food and hay. It’s so funny to watch her get her tongue between the cage- and guests are always surprised that they get along so well and share a food bowl no problem!

Interestingly enough my dog is allergic to chicken! It makes her break out in a rash and itch like crazy!!! So we have to feed her fish dog food- which makes her smell terrible!

KatieNovember 30, 2012, 10:03 am

Our pug, Walter, will lose it over treats but doesn’t get all that excited about food – never has, no matter the brand. He’ll eat, but totally on his own schedule. And before he eats, he hangs his head into the bowl for a while – not sure if he’s staring or smelling. Then he paces back and forth in front of the bowl for a few minutes before he eats. Strange! Now, add some cheese, meat broth, or a little wet food to his normal food – and he’ll lick the bowl clean.

LaNovember 30, 2012, 10:03 am

Our dog, Lola, picks up a piece of kibble, drops it on the rug runner behind her, eats it, and then proceeds to do this until her bowl is finished. It looks exhausting with all of the back and forth, but this seems to work for her 🙂

AnnieNovember 30, 2012, 10:04 am

We just adopted a kitten on Sunday, so we don’t know any quirks yet. However, he does love dried tuna flakes as a treat. My husband is trying to train him. 😉

ErinNovember 30, 2012, 10:07 am

My cat doesn’t really have any funny eating habits when it comes to eating her own food. But she does enjoy “helping” her mom and dad prepare meals by laying on the counter (we have limited counter space), walking over all of the bowls/dishes we are about to cook with (we then need to clean them again), and getting a drink from all of the sinks in the apartment.
She also likes to lick the top of ice cream caps. We love her 🙂

ChristinaNovember 30, 2012, 10:13 am

Our Boston Terrier, Stella, eats in about 45 seconds flat. It’s hilarious, but sometimes I get worried she is going to choke!! She is such a foodie, and will do anything for a bite to eat. When she is done she will search all around the bowl and under neath to make sure she didn’t miss any of her precious morsels. When she is at my parent’s house, she also will sit and wait while their dog eats and will clean everything up! My boyfriend and I joke that we should have just named her Hoover!

my dog takes his food out of the bowl and walks into the living room and puts it on the floor and eats it off the floor!

GiannaNovember 30, 2012, 10:14 am

My cat, Toby, is the bigger and more aggressive of my 2 cats and he eats all of his food at once, and then tries to eat the smaller cat’s food, too. Even still, about an hour later, he’ll be meowing and nibbling on your toes to ask for more. He even knows when someone is making lunch in the kitchen and tries to get us to give him a little taste haha

LaisNovember 30, 2012, 10:14 am

Our cat, Miss Kitty Fantastico, likes to be pet while she’s eating. She’ll run up to me, meow, and make sure I follow her back to her bowl. Super cute but also super annoying!

SierraNovember 30, 2012, 6:23 pm

Miss Kitty Fantastico is an AMAZING name.
That is all.

CaitlinNovember 30, 2012, 7:54 pm

agree

MariaDecember 1, 2012, 12:28 am

It’s from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 🙂

JenNovember 30, 2012, 10:14 am

My cat Zoey loves cream cheese and sour cream. We give it to her sparingly, but she licks it right off your finger!

ChelseyNovember 30, 2012, 10:15 am

I free feed my cat her dry food and if there’s not food in her bowl she will follow me around screaming at me until I put more food in her bowl. She doesn’t even usually eat any of the food when I fill it back up. It’s like she just has to make sure there’s food in there and the world isn’t ending.

TracyNovember 30, 2012, 10:15 am

Our cat Buster lays on the floor beside his water dish and puts the entire side of his face and neck in the dish. When done, it looks like he’s gone for swim. Conversely, his sister will not drink from the bowl. She flips the top off the water-fountain feature to drink from the very top. She’s smart. No girl is going to drink water that some boy has dunked his head in!

JenNovember 30, 2012, 10:15 am

Our only ‘pets’ right now are fish- lots of them. They’re not too funny, but my 15 month old seems to think they are. She loves watching me feed them!

TerriNovember 30, 2012, 10:16 am

I have a female cat who will stick her paw in her water bowl and then lick the water off of her paw.

ChaleyNovember 30, 2012, 10:17 am

We have two cats and when they hear a can being opened, they come running in the hopes that it is tuna. It is so funny to watch because we almost never open anything other than beans, but they still think it might be. AND they can hear it from anywhere in the house!

NoelNovember 30, 2012, 10:17 am

My dogs love natural foods!

CobyNovember 30, 2012, 10:17 am

My dog takes each bite of food out of his bowl and brings it in a different room to eat. He finishes that bite, then runs into the other room for another!

My pup won’t eat unless we are home. Her food bowl is always down, but she’ll wait until we get home and then chow down. She’s also really funny when she takes treats, she’s so delicate and will take her sweet time when she’s taking it out of your hand.

Lindsay MNovember 30, 2012, 10:21 am

My husband and I have an 8 year old full bred lab. He is a mess! Sammy Joe has put up with being an only child to sharing us with our two kids, 6 and 5. So, he still has some lab tendencies regarding attention and anxiety. The funniest thing I think he does is sit his 90+pound behind on my or my husband’s lap, so the kids can’t get to us . I believe he does this when he feels as though it is his turn for some attention or love and not theirs. Not to be out done by how funny it has been to scare him with Elfy our Elf on a Shelf. He barks every night when I move home. I die! Lol

TrudyNovember 30, 2012, 10:22 am

My chihuahua Sugar takes her food and eats it under my bed. She also hoards anything she finds edible under there. We have to move our bed and clean it out under there about every two weeks. We find yogurt cups that the kids left out completely licked clean and candy wrappers. Pretty much anything with a tiny crumb or lick that gets left in her reach is under there. She also steals spoons from the dishwasher while I am loading it and takes those to her spot too!

My dog will eat her food anywhere except for over her bowl. Each mouthful of food has to be dropped somewhere before eating it…the floor, the couch, the bed…it’s kind of gross. She also has an obsession with pizza. She likes most people food and will gladly take it from you, but she knows when you are eating pizza and will stare you down until you give her some.

Our dog, Frisket has his food next to the fridge in the kitchen, and he’ll grab a bite, take it into the living room, and eat it there. He does this about four or five times until he’s done.

Also, our cat, Henry, likes to drop his food in his water bowl and fish it out with his paws. He will then proceed to splash water and cat food all over the bathroom (also to keep Frisket away from their food. He’s like Maggie, I guess).

We have two other cats, Tris and Janie, who don’t really have weird habits, though Tris will walk all over you if she can see the bottom of her bowl (even if there is plenty of food there), and Jane will meow at me if I’m passing by and when I check her food, she jumps up on the counter to proceed to eat. Apparently, she wants me to watch her? She’s a weirdo, but I love her.

My min pin makes so many funny noises – she grunts and whines so much that it sounds like she’s talking!

TriciaNovember 30, 2012, 10:24 am

Our beagle mix Isabel always races in to her food dish when it’s time to eat and wolfs down every morsel. She is hitting middle age, yet she has always shown this same exuberance for every.single.meal.

CayceNovember 30, 2012, 10:27 am

My cat Francis won’t eat unless someone is standing next to him. If you walk away, he’ll run all over the house until he finds you and then he’ll cry until you go back to his bowl and watch him eat.

Kristina N.November 30, 2012, 10:28 am

That is so funny about Maggie and James! We have two female dogs similar in personalities to yours. Cali will dig into her food like there’s no tomorrow then wait for Bailey to start. Bailey has to eat all of the chicken pieces out of the bowl then put the kibbles on the ground. After Cali gets a few pieces of Bailey’s food, Bailey will eat whatever she feels like eating. It’s so weird! We also got Cali the spray collar to get her to stop barking after your review. Worked beautifully for her. Bailey on the other hand hid in our bedroom, shaking, and would not come out until the collar was gone. I love them, but they’re so wacky 🙂

KatieNovember 30, 2012, 10:29 am

My dachshund does the same thing as Maggie and James. When he’s at home with me, he’ll pick up pieces and carefully lay them out on the floor, and delicately eat them one by one. When I take him to my parents’ house however, he darts for their dog’s food bowl and chow down like a Viking if there is anything in her bowl. I swear he’s got a split personality!

My dog does something called inverted sneezing. He gets so excited when he sees that he’s going to get a rawhide, he has to wait 2-3 minutes to eat it until he is done. He also only likes to eat when the rest of the family is eating.

monique breardNovember 30, 2012, 10:33 am

I have popcorn loving dogs…one loves to have kernels thrown on the floor the other one wants you to put a single kernel in his mouth.

Lesley T.November 30, 2012, 10:35 am

I feed my cats Orijen Cat and Kitten Dry Cat Food; it’s pricey but has the best dry ingredient list I’ve seen. A lot of the “grain-free” foods inexplicably contain rice and barley, which I think is annoyingly misleading–on what planet are rice and barley not considered grain?

If you decide to buy wet food for Pippa, both of my cats love Avoderm, especially the sardine, crab, and shrimp flavor. Petsmart sells it.

stephanieNovember 30, 2012, 10:37 am

My 16 year old kitty Irma likes to have company when she eats and will follow you around the house until you come to her food bowl with her. Only then will she start eating. After she eats she will run around the house and howl until I say “you’re welcome”. Then she quiets down.

My dog eats with a fork. It’s the cutest thing you ever saw. (Okay, he doesn’t really, but I thought the mental image of a dog eating with a fork might give me the edge in winning the contest. Come to think of it, I still think it might. I WAS JUST KIDDING, HE REALLY DOES EAT WITH A FORK! IT’S SOOOOOOO CUTE!

My yorkie-poo (or “porkie” as I prefer to say) also takes each bite of kibble from his bowl into the living room where we are and drops it on the floor to eat. Crazy!! My two cats have a kitty-door entrance to the basement where their litter boxes and food are. Surprisingly, though the dog can fit through the kitty door, he knows it cat territory only. Ha! Everyone eats strictly dry food with wet food as an occasional treat.

Where do I begin. I’ll just focus on the Hound Dog. She acts like dinner time is the most exciting moment in her life!! Drool literally pours out of her mouth like a faucet. Caitlin, you’d hate my floors! Yuck! 🙂

RHNovember 30, 2012, 10:43 am

My cat (Ned Ryerson) always knows when it’s suppertime. He will come find me and herd me into the kitchen to fix his meal. I’ve trained him to patiently wait “out of the kitchen” (which means all his paws must be on carpet, not the kitchen linoleum) until I give him the release command “okay,” at which point he’s allowed to eat. He knows loads of other tricks, too. More than most dogs I know.

Rebecca B.November 30, 2012, 10:44 am

If my husband is feeding our 2 kitties, our boy, Malcolm, will run a lap around our kitchen island before settling down to his bowl. He doesn’t do this when I feed them. He also randomly decided to get obsessed with water after a year with us. We had to move the water bowls into the bathtub so he wouldn’t spill it all over the floor. So strange.

JessNovember 30, 2012, 10:46 am

My cat, Faraday, uses his paw to scoop up water about 90% of the time he drinks it. He’s like a little raccoon. He also vastly prefers water in the bathroom sink to his dish, even if the dish water is fresh.

MeganNovember 30, 2012, 12:14 pm

I just posted the same thing about my cat and then saw your post! It’s so cute to watch my cat but he makes such a mess.

My dog has very specific eating rules or he literally will go days without eating if they are not followed…

1) When he is hungry, he will paw at his water dish or any other container on the floor, (for example a novelty margarita glass from Las Vegas ;)) You cannot offer him food unless he asks or he will go on strike. (unless it’s human food, of course!)
2) Must be out of a flat bottomed, Tupperware bowl. Nothing else.
3) Same as James, has a little walkabout while eating.
4) We must be silent while he is eating, no eye contact allowed or he stops.
5) He will only eat his dry food if it’s mixed with some wet as well.
6) He almost always leaves 3 of the darker pieces of his food behind. Never the light ones but sometimes more or less of the dark ones – ha!

I’m sort of glad to see he is not the only weird-o dog eater out there! How would these dogs have survived in the wild ? ha!

LizNovember 30, 2012, 10:49 am

Oh I wish I could attach a photo with this one. It’s the weirdest thing. My cat continually pets the floor while eating or drinking water. It’s like he’s trying to clean his place mat (yes. He has a place mat. And yes. It’s always kept clean). It’s the funniest thing to watch.

My pup will take a few pieces out of her bowl and then take them to the living room to drop them on the floor and then eat them. It’s quite the process.

We also used to tease her and say that the cats were going to eat her food. We thought we were just being funny, but she could totally understand us! Now anytime the cats go over to their food (in the same spot as the pups) our dog will go over and “guard” her food from them. The cats have zero interest in her food 🙂

KellieNovember 30, 2012, 10:50 am

My dog won’t eat the cat food when we are home, but as soon as he sees our car pulling out he runs to the kitchen. We had to get a baby gate for when we are not home. It wouldn’t be so bad, but he is not smart enough to know to not drag the bowl out into the living room to cover his tracks.

We had to head home for a family funeral last minute and left our cat home alone for 5 days {someone stopped in 3 times to feed/water/try to love him} and he was seriously missing human contact. We got back on Monday…he has been a needy chunk of velcro since!

And since we are back I’m pretty convinced he has figured out how to tell time – exactly 30 minutes before my alarm goes off he will sit on my pillow and meow at me. My alarm does not go off at the same time every day but for the last 4 days he has timed it perfectly. He is making me crazy!

My pup is similar to James – Philly will take a mouthful of food, run to her ‘spot’ in the other room and eat there before coming back for more. She’ll also only eat when the people who are home (me, my husband, or both of us together) are in the kitchen where her food is with her. Strange!

StefanieNovember 30, 2012, 10:55 am

I’m actually really surprised (and have been before, just didn’t comment) that you don’t feed your pets raw food. We’ve been feeding our dogs raw for years now and it’s amazing the difference in their health, energy and poops (yes I said it 😛 but seriously, dog poops that don’t smell and are easy to clean up! WOW!). For us it’s actually the same cost or cheaper than high end kibble, and they LOVE it. Yes there’s a bit of an ick factor, which there’s many ways to get around. Our dogs get ground chicken or beef (measured according to their weight) with some veggies in it, and as treats they sometimes get turkey necks or chicken backs (which are super cheap at the butchers because few people eat them). There’s a ton of information out there, I can recommend some books if you’d like. Have fun!

We’ve taught my dog, Daisy, a bunch of tricks – sit, back up, down, roll over, etc. – and we usually reward her with a treat when she does a trick on command. She LOVES to eat, and, if she sees that we have a piece of food, she gets so excited and starts doing all of her tricks over and over again! She’s a funny one.

Our miniature schnauzer, Sydney, is unusually disinterested in food (except for treats: different story!). Most dogs gobble it up right away, but sometimes, we have to force her to get interested in it. She is kind of a neat freak about pieces of food; if she sees one piece on the floor, she eats it to clean it up. So sometimes if it’s getting late and she still hasn’t eaten, my husband will scatter a handful on the kitchen floor. OCD Dog can’t stand the mess and eats the few pieces, which whets her appetite for the whole bowl. Silly pup!

We feed our cat Blue Buffalo dry food during the week (they make a bunch of great options including some grain-free ones) and then on the weekends we feed him wet food. He gets so excited about the wet food so we’ve trained him to sit before we put the bowl down. It’s awesome, we have a little dog-cat.

MelissaNovember 30, 2012, 10:56 am

My Dogue de Bordeaux is massive and yet my 4 pound mini pin eats first while the Dogue waits. She is only allowed to eat when the mini pin is finished. The mini pin is definitely the “top dog”

Mine have a specific order to feed and everyone sits and waits. Food is certainly a motivator with my crew. The last one fed is also the bowl licker to make sure no one left any crumbs after they all finish.

jennNovember 30, 2012, 10:57 am

My aussie will pick out the carrots and put them to the side of her bowl with her kibbles and bits! It’s so strange!

CourtneyNovember 30, 2012, 10:58 am

My parents dog is a Golden Retriever mixed with Border Collie (at least that’s what we think – she was a rescue) and she literally INHALES her food. She also knows when it is time to eat because she’ll run around in circles the same time every day that indicates to us–FEED ME FEED ME FEED ME!

ElisabethNovember 30, 2012, 11:01 am

One of the dogs we had when I was a kid was gotten from a man who had to give her up. She would only eat in an old saucepan that was missing it’s handle 😉

I realize this is not normal…BUT, we have 2 miniature donkeys and everyday when we pull in the driveway after work, they start braying like crazy for their dinner. I guess they love their hay! We also have a pug and 2 kitties and their strange eating habits could have a novel written about them…

Olive has habits similar to James. She crunches one kibble at a time – which is a bit annoying when you are in a hurry!

Miss kitty is pretty picky about her food – or at least she was when we first adopted her and we haven’t tried to change since. We tried getting her to eat the fancier organic foods, I think we tried two or three different kinds, but she just wouldn’t eat it! So she eats the cheaper conventional brand, with some prescription dental crunchies mixed in.

maijaNovember 30, 2012, 11:05 am

our puppy wants to eat everything we have…. while we have it. when we give her tastes of fruits and veg, she’s totally not into it, but still keeps begging for something off our plates.

Samantha WNovember 30, 2012, 11:05 am

I don’t think my dog actually chews his food. He inhales his food in a matter of minutes.

kristinaNovember 30, 2012, 11:06 am

My cat wrinkles his nose every time he eats a treat! It’s so cute and funny.

Animals are so funny! April doesn’t have too many funny eating habits. She used to not eat very much, as in go half a day or a day without eating. We’ve now switched her food to a better (not made of corn) food, and she’ll eat more regularly. We also include some pumpkin in her food to solidify her poop and help express her glands. She loves the pumpkin!

ChristineNovember 30, 2012, 11:07 am

My chihuahua doesn’t have any teeth so we have to mash up all her food and she just gnaws it. She also went through a phase of eating only cat food until we got her to eat chicken mixed with dog food. When she did have teeth, however, my aunt would take her through a drive-thru Mexican place and get her a taco. So whenever you say the word ‘taco’ she gets really excited.

KatieNovember 30, 2012, 11:07 am

My cat hoards my pony-tail holders (fubbies?) in her food dish. Every day I take them out of her dish, wash them, and no matter where I put them she always manages to find a few and put them back in with her food.

LaurenNovember 30, 2012, 11:08 am

we have two cats, and one is on a diet. to manage her portion, we only give her a little food and put the other cat’s food on top of the fridge, because the overweight one can’t jump up there. guests are always shocked to see the skinny cat eating on top of the fridge!

JulzNovember 30, 2012, 11:08 am

My dog loves random scraps we give her- especially broccoli stems!

ReginaNovember 30, 2012, 11:08 am

We give our cat Buster a good diet of raw meat, but if I’m eating something on the couch he will sit on my shoulder and stick his face right into mine like he’s never seen food before in his life. I’m training him to sit on a cushion while I’m eating so he doesn’t bug me. So far, so good. 🙂

ErinNovember 30, 2012, 11:09 am

I have two cats, who are brothers who pace around at my door until I wake up and then proceed to purr and nuzzle my ankles until I feed them to the point that I can’t walk around freely until I feed them. It’s a good method because it’s sickeningly cute but also very effective for them. So I can never get annoyed at the constant tripping I do for the first 10 minutes of my day.

BriNovember 30, 2012, 11:09 am

I did not know that about cats – interesting! Ruby eats her food in about 30 seconds flat, never looking up from the bowl until it is licked clean. She’s a high energy breed and I suppose really needs that food to fuel her. Checking out Organix food now!

AshleyNovember 30, 2012, 11:11 am

My cat is loves people food! I try to avoid giving it to him, but he is soooo sneaky! He has been known to go after a plate I leave a plate on the table and steal entire dinner rolls off of it. He’s so cute though, it is hard to be mad at him!!

JoyNovember 30, 2012, 11:12 am

My two cats (brothers) have to be fed in separate rooms because the non-alpha male gobbles his food and then tries to swoop in and eat his brother’s food. His brother is a much slower eater, so there’s always food to be taken. Separating them in different rooms helps with the swooping, but I still have to keep my eye on the gobbler to make sure he leaves his brother’s food alone.

AshleyNovember 30, 2012, 11:12 am

I would love to give this card to my Mom as a belated birthday gift. She has two black labs at home, that are also my little babies. Oldest is Simon, who loves to eat toilet paper and Miles, loves to eat shoes. I’m positive if we gave them endless amounts of food, they’d consume it all in a minute. 🙂 Love the pet posts!

RachelNovember 30, 2012, 11:12 am

Maddy (beagle, jack russell, basenji mix) would steal carrot from my rabbit… And they both would steal apple from me. My rabbit (RIP my little Toffee) would also twitch when she ate banana because she loved it so much!

jillianNovember 30, 2012, 11:13 am

our puppy, Rica (adopted from Puerto Rico) also takes her kibble out of the dish and brings it to another spot. She usually just eats a few pieces, leaves the rest, and then goes back for more. I’m always stepping on the stuff, it drives me nuts!

but the BEST part — or maybe the worst part to some? — is, after she’s done, she finds us and burps SO loudly. Like, realllly loudly. Very funny coming from a little terrier. She cracks me up 🙂

My dog Paco “happy eats” – when we come home, he rushes to his food bowl, grabs a mouthful of kibble and runs to where we are, drops the food on the ground and then eats it, piece by piece. Cracks me up! He’s a social eater and I finally had to move his bowl into my office so he’d actually eat!

KelliNovember 30, 2012, 11:15 am

My dog after each meal rolls on the floor in circle s for like 5 minutes!

LisaNovember 30, 2012, 11:17 am

My dog doesnt do anything too weird but its funny how aware he is of when breakfast and dinner time is! He just stares at me super alert…it cracks me up!

Our yellow lab ALWAYS goes over to our chocolate lab’s dish after she’s done eating to make sure she got every last little piece and licks it clean, then goes back to his and licks it clean. He’s so OCD about it! It cracks me up.

F. PlvanNovember 30, 2012, 11:20 am

Moses doesn’t exactly eat his food; he just takes a deep breath, inhales, and it’s gone.

My husky Kia is crazy picky! We used to buy her this kibble that 5 or 6 different shapes and colors and she would pick out the ones she liked and leave the rest in the bowl! We ended up switching brands. Now all of a sudden she started dumping her bowl out and eating her food from the floor, every time! It’s so weird!

My little pup I think has some sort of identity disorder. He likes to pretend he’s a cat! He even licks his paws and tries to clean his face… such a goof!

Sarah WalkerNovember 30, 2012, 11:26 am

I don’t have a pet right now, but am excited to visit my parents’ dogs during Christmas! Our family’s first dog, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, was quite the protector. When driving in the car during a rainstorm she would leap from ANY location in the car to get on the dashboard to bark at and chase the windshield wipers as they went back and forth. After “her protection” almost caused an accident we made sure to hold her down while driving in the car during rainstorms.

Katie MNovember 30, 2012, 11:27 am

My pup (also named Maggie) used to eat dry food, but she got a taste of the wet stuff at a neighbor’s house one day, and then she refused to eat the dry stuff again. So we try to mix the wet with at least some dry to save a few $$$.

CateNovember 30, 2012, 11:27 am

My dog scarfs down his food in about 10 seconds flat. Afterward he runs to the couch, jumps up, lets out a big belch, and takes nap #1 of the day.

MicheleNovember 30, 2012, 11:28 am

My dog, Charlie, has to cover his food when he is not going to eat it. I have to have a towel close by otherwise he will use toys or anything he can find to cover the bowl.

Juli D.November 30, 2012, 11:28 am

Our big, sweet Berner Toby will eat almost all of his food from the bowl in our kitchen area. When there is maybe half a cup left, he will pick up his bowl in his mouth and carry it to the living room about 5 feet away. He lays down (bowl still in mouth) and then finishes his last bites of food laying with his dish between his big paws. Now, it happens like this most of the time. About 10% of the time he drops the bowl and scatters kibble everywhere – a bit less adorably quirky. We have no idea why he does this, but we love him and all of his unusual habits.

AmandaNovember 30, 2012, 11:31 am

Our family dog, Picasso, won’t eat unless he has gone outside first. Guess he’s got to water the plants before chowing down.

RachRNovember 30, 2012, 11:31 am

I have a rabbit and the carrot-obsessed stereotype is absolutely true. He goes crazy for them. He has to eat in the same spot every morning & evening so when I give him a carrot by the fridge he picks it up at the narrow end with his teeth and runs, hitting it on every wall and piece of furniture between me and the fireplace. It’s ridiculously cute. And so spastic.

Megan BNovember 30, 2012, 11:32 am

My dog, Baloo, is definitely a James-style eater, except, instead of putting the food on the floor by his bowl, he brings a mouthful over to wherever we are and then chews it up and eats it. . . loudly. He’ll do this 3-4 times before settling in to just eat it from the bowl. I think he’s trying to let us know how much he appreciates it. 😉

NicoleNovember 30, 2012, 11:35 am

These are all so funny! Our dog takes a mouthful of kibble and does a loop around or kitchen island while he chews. It takes forever!

AnnieNovember 30, 2012, 11:36 am

My cat, Carlos, is currently on a diet.. he’s a small cat but somehow gained a pound (oddly enough, that happened while my boyfriend was living here and may have been overfeeding him…). So, no weird habits, but he gets SUPER excited when he seems me grab the food bag!

sophieNovember 30, 2012, 11:37 am

our puppy wags his tail the entire time he’s eating which i think is adorable. other than that he’s pretty normal when he eats.

JillNovember 30, 2012, 11:38 am

Both of my pups (Scrabble and Yoder) love bananas but Scrabble loves them so much she will stand on her hind legs and make monkey noises until she is given banana.

SarahNovember 30, 2012, 11:40 am

It’s funny that wet food is said to be good for the kidneys and dry is good for the teeth. If your dog gets bad gum disease, it can lead to kidney failure. So by that logic, dry food is also good for the kidneys!

We’ve started giving our dog dried sweet potato treats. She LOVES them and they’re so much better than regular dog treats since it’s whole food. She also gets freeze dried chicken liver treats, apple slices, and canned pumpkin (if she needs help with her poos).

MichelleNovember 30, 2012, 11:41 am

My dog will wolf down her food if its just in the bowl, so we put it in one of those feeder balls that she has to roll around a certain way to get the food out. Its hilarious watching her methodology of when to stop and pick up every last piece of kibble versus how much of a successful roll she’s on. 🙂

SarahNovember 30, 2012, 11:42 am

I have to feed my female dog first because if I drop food in the male’s bowl, she goes right for it even though it’s not hers! But he will wait patiently…I just tell him “Ladies, first!” 🙂 He eats twice as much as she does (per their size) and yet they finish at the same time, ha ha.

Jack, my jack russell..original I know…loves to hide his food from my other dog and then eat it later when no one is looking. It cracks us up every time we see him run off with something in his mouth.

MalloryNovember 30, 2012, 11:47 am

Our dog, Santana, eats her food furiously…it disappears so quickly! After she’s done then she will drink some water, then lick her empty food bowl…then repeat! Like she is trying to get every tiny last morsel of food dust that could be left in there. For the next half an hour or so, she’ll continue to wander back to her bowl every so often to check for more food and give it another lick.

She used to eat out of a “treat dispensing ball” that we put her dry food in because when she was a puppy she’d eat so quickly that she’d make herself sick. But she would be so eager about the food that she would push the ball so fast around the house that she’d leave the food laying everywhere and then come back to it after the ball was empty. Not the best for keeping clean floors!

My dog (also Maggie!) has to go through her whole routine before she eats- sit, shake, down-all-the-way, then, I pat her on the head and say “good girl,” and she proceeds to INHALE her food. She’s also just about the worst beggar ever!
Also, aren’t mornings crazy when you have so many to feed? I’m always the last to eat in our house. My husband sleeps through everything, and I always wake him up with breakfast… You’re lucky your husband will make breakfast sometimes!

Dexter, our black lab mix, is a BIG eater. He licks his bowl clean. He licks the floor clean–of his food and of things we drop. He will eat the cats’ food if it’s left on the floor, where he can access it.

Our cats, Zak and Sara, are weird, too. Zak, mostly; he an overeater and will yak it all back up within minutes. He also paws at the floor while he drinks. And both cats ALWAYS drink out of the dog’s water bowl.

Animals are funny.

Carol BNovember 30, 2012, 11:54 am

When we sit down to eat dinner, our cat, Tinker will come to the table. He will stand on his back legs with his front paws on the table and watch us eat. It is hilarious. If we are eating chicken or steak, we will put a little piece on a napkin. He will get down to eat it and then jump back to the standing position! 🙂

I’ve been feeding my two cats a raw diet for most of their life. They seem to love it – their energy is balanced throughout the day, their coats are super shiny, their poop is small, lightweight and odorless. I get a lot of questions/interest/concerns when it comes up that I feed my cats raw food, but think about it: what do lions and cheetahs and bobcats eat in the wild? Raw carcasses of recently killed animals – meat, bones, tendons and all. And physiologically, cats are miniature lions.

Its actually a myth that dry food is good for cats’ teeth… there is nothing good about feeding cats dry food. Kibble contains no water, is mostly carbohydrate filler, and contains very little protein – the macronutrient cats need the most of. Here are some resources about the best food for cats:

Even if raw is something you can’t do, PLEASE only feed your cats canned food.

(For what its worth, I make a homemade raw diet for my cats and it costs the same as buying g0od quality canned food. The most expensive way to eat raw is to buy the premade frozen raw patties in the freezer section of some pet stores.)

Our dog Chester does the same thing as James! …except he does it when he’s not hungry, like a picky toddler (and he’s about 1 and a half years old, so it fits perfectly, which I find hilarious). He gets raw food patties for dinner, and when he doesn’t feel like eating he’ll pick up a bite from his bowl and deposit it somewhere on the floor. Usually it’s right around the bowl, but once he brought it all the way to the living room before leaving it for someone else to pick up!

Allison RNovember 30, 2012, 12:02 pm

Our chocolate lab, Bear, has one funny drinking and one funny eating habit. When he drinks, I swear at least HALF of the water he intended to get in his belly goes all over the floor. Being a type-A person this used to totally drive me bonkers, but now we just keep a hand towel on the floor and wipe up with out feet after he drinks. His funny eating habit- if we are eating any sort of delicious, salty food (pizza, chicken wings, eggs and bacon, etc), he just sits so quietly and politely staring at us and drools like crazy! It’s hilarious. His concentration on watching the food go into our mouth is directly proportional to the amount of drool coming out of his 🙂

KateNovember 30, 2012, 12:02 pm

We have two kittens (Twiggy and Ginger) and already they have trained us. I feed the girls in the morning (husband at night) which Ginger has learned. I also use my phone as my alarm and after it goes off once Ginger lays on it so I wont hit the snooze bar and delay breakfast. Ginger has also gotten into the habit of scratching around her bowl when she is done like a wild cat covering its kill so that others don’t come eat it, she was a feral baby before the shelter after all. Twiggy on the other hand sounds like a dog at the water bowl *slurp gulp slurp gulp* – lots of noise for a little tongue.

woodford, the dog, prefers to grab a mouthful of dog food from the kitchen and bring it in to the living room and drop it on the floor before eating…ugh…our living room is carpeted :\ he will also eat a whole banana in similar fashion to a person.

and Olivia, the cat, will ONLY eat dry cat food…and doritos. she would never touch any human food, and never would eat treats – she actually scooped them out of her food bowl once and they were all over the floor. but i discovered recently that she liked doritos when she started licking my fingers after i had ate some chips – i gave her a corner of one and she ate it. she has a picky palate…

My dog, Reddick, will not eat during the day. He eats in the middle of the night. We usually hear a good crunching around 2am. He also loves water WAY more than he loves food. He could drink ten bowls a day if he wanted to.

DeanneNovember 30, 2012, 12:06 pm

We have one bowl for our cat food and two cats. Trouble is the alpha and eats first but if Flair is extra hungry they eat at the same time, one on either side and head but each other out of the way so they can get a bite. When they eat alone Trouble grabs a kibble moves back a bit then shakes her head as if to kill it. Both cats try to bury the bowl in the laminate and it usually ends up in the middle of the entrance way or in front of the bathroom/bedroom door.

Pippa may not be as enthusiastic about her food because name brand foods are full of carbs and just like people pets can get addicted to carbs. They love the sugar rush and even though her new food is healthier she may miss the carbs. Think of it as switching from donuts to veggies. It’ll take a while for her to adjust.

mamaNovember 30, 2012, 12:06 pm

My yorkie, similarly, takes a mouthful of dog food and repeatedly brings it to wherever we are in the house, spits it out and eats pieces right next to us! Random!

KatieNovember 30, 2012, 12:09 pm

My 65lb Black lab eats dinner when I get home from work and nearly every night, my husband comes home in the middle of her meal. she spends the rest of her meal taking a bite, chewing it as she runs to wiggle in between his legs in excitement and back and forth for a while. (she does figure 8s through peoples legs to greet them)
She also has an organic chicken jerky treat after each meal that she takes VERY gently from me and then runs to eat it on the patio(or in front of the door leading to the patio during REALLY cold months). She has to eat it in the same spot or she just holds it in her mouth staring at me if she can’t.
This is the same dog that also spends every car ride and a good hour a day at home chasing shadows and reflections. haha love her to DEATH though

MeganNovember 30, 2012, 12:09 pm

One of my cats drags his paw through the water bowl, and then licks the water off his paw. He will occasionally drink straight from the bowl, but 90% of the time it’s from his paw. He makes such a mess!

My little dog does the food dropping thing too. We had the hardest time getting him to eat when we first got him because he is TERRIFIED of bowls. Yes, you read that correctly. Buddha must be served his food on a PLATE because he will back away from a bowl step by step. We must have tried 3 different dehydrated foods and 3-5 dry foods on him before realizing the only thing he’d eat (similar to the diet we feed our dog with Cushing’s disease)…oatmeal and either canned tuna or a hardboiled or scrambled egg, and some veggies on top. My mom makes oatmeal for him and her dog three times a day. My dog isn’t that much of a princess. She eats grain-free kibble out of a bowl…and other things around the house/yard that I don’t want to mention 🙂

Well, this isn’t really a funny eating habit, but… one of our cats (we have 2) will only throw up in her food bowl. So sometimes we randomly find a foodbowl with food on the bottom, barf on top. I guess the plus is that for her, we won’t run into a random pile of kitty throw up somewhere in the house… but it’s gross to clean out the bowl 🙂

LizNovember 30, 2012, 12:14 pm

My little doggy had her gallbladder removed in August so now she’s stuck with a very low fat prescription food. Surprisingly, she seems to love it. She always eats laying down, with one paw on either side of her food bowl. Lazy? Smart? Who knows?

SharonNovember 30, 2012, 12:26 pm

My cats are sisters from the same litter. The shy one will gobble down her food and will go back for seconds and thirds and fourths…It’s like she’s starving all the time! Also, they both dip their paws in the water bowl before drinking…always. Weird!

NicoleNovember 30, 2012, 12:28 pm

We had to move our cats’ food into the basement; otherwise, the dog would hoover it up, which he does on occasion if he can get to it. Our dog Geordi eats everything- plush toys, sticks, grass, and goose poop.

Our cats also have peculiar tastes. Arwen likes baked goods and fruit leather. She also leaves lots of crumbs in the bowl. And if a piece of food falls out of her mouth, she doesn’t pick it back up, which is super annoying. Ben likes CheezIts and iced tea. And popcorn, tortilla chips, and his own hair. He does do a cute thing where he picks food up with his mouth and then places it in his upturned paw before sticking it back in his mouth.

GloriaNovember 30, 2012, 12:28 pm

I feed my kitty Marco both wet and dry food. He’ll eat the wet food up quickly and then pick at the dry food the rest of the day. The few minutes it takes him to eat the wet food is the only small window of time I have to do things in the kitchen without a little kitten constantly under my feet, so I choose when to feed him very strategically 🙂

LisaNovember 30, 2012, 12:32 pm

My dog likes to wake us up and pretend like he needs to go out. Then, after we are up and out of bed, he gets in our warm spot and curls up. What a sweet heart! Haha!

stephanie**sNovember 30, 2012, 12:37 pm

Well lets see, Makeedz will “roo roo rooooooo” when he wants to get your attention or is mad at you. He is a hound mix. Bentley does backflips for her kong (she is a pitbull) and will wiggle around on her back and growl (playfully). Marley, well she is just special. She will run and look for her toy before u even throw it.

stephanie**sNovember 30, 2012, 12:42 pm

Oops I did not realize the question was for weird eating habits just odd habits. :-/

Cat O'BrienNovember 30, 2012, 12:45 pm

we have 2 dogs, loki and felina. we add chicken or ground beef to their dry food. felina will always finish her food and then wait for loki to eat the good stuff off the top (he never finishes his food). at which point felina will lie down a foot or two away from his bowl and “slyly” crawl her way on top of his bowl, which is when the food just “disapears.” hah.

EmilyNovember 30, 2012, 12:47 pm

My little dog Telula eats a mix of puppy and adult food…she’s 5…most days she spits the pieces of adult food back onto the floor. I treat her like a child–no more puppy food until you eat what’s in your bowl (or on the floor)!

For a while Lando wouldn’t eat from his bowl or if it was dumped on his mat. I had to hand feed him at times. Luckily, he’s grown out of that peculiarity and dives into his bowl as soon as I put it down.

My cats, well, anytime I try pouring the food into their bowls, Gambit puts his head there so he gets “showered” with kibble. I switch tactics sometimes and pour the food where they can’t reach then put it down for them and Gambit rams his head into my hand and spills half the bowl over the bathroom floor. Chloe also grabs a mouthful of food and moves away from the bowl to eat elsewhere, before coming back for more. I find kibble all over, if Lando hasn’t gotten to it first.

And the cats prefer the dogs water bowl than their own. Strange little things.

AriaNovember 30, 2012, 12:48 pm

It’s not really a weird eating habit but my one cat will only drink water out of her water bowl if her left paw is in the water lol – I don’t know why she does that especially bc her sister has never done that!

AllisonNovember 30, 2012, 12:50 pm

My poor, sweet rescue dog will not eat until I coax him to his bowl. He won’t keep eating unless I stay in the room with him. I’ve trained him not to go into the room where we feed the cats, and he’s been very obedient, until we tried some new wet cat food yesterday. A few minutes after kitty breakfast time, I caught him trotting out of the room and licking his chops. Naughty dog. He also goes crazy for treats: when I call him to me for a treat he goes through all his tricks at once (sit, shake, down, etc.) before I even tell him what I want him to do.

Cat feeding is mostly uneventful, but one of our two cats is obsessed with dairy, and will go to extremes to get a taste of milk or cheese. She’ll jump on the counter in the morning in hopes of sneaking some milk from my husband’s cereal bowl, and she stands under my feet when I make anything with cheese, hoping to catch some pieces that fall. I also caught her once with her back paws on the couch and front paws on the coffee table, stretched as far as her body could go, shoving her little face in a glass to try to get to the few drops of milk at the bottom.

Lindsay ANovember 30, 2012, 12:50 pm

My cat has a funny DRINKING habit….she is obsessed with drinking out of the toilet. She goes all paws in. It’s really weird. You would think we lace the outside of it with cat nip! She’s so gross!

KimberlyNovember 30, 2012, 12:52 pm

My roommate and I both have large dogs and we buy them HUGE bones to chew on upstairs to keep them busy during the day. When I come home for lunch or after work my dog, Harrison, gets really excited but doesn’t want to abandon his bone. So he spends about 5 minutes trying to figure out how the drag his bone downstairs with him so he can greet me AND have his bone with him. 🙂

My cat, Molly, will eat her wet food normally. But when it comes to her dry food, she’ll scoop a little out of the bowl with her paw and then flick it at her face. She’ll catch as many pieces as she can in her mouth. Luckily, if she drops/misses any pieces, she’ll eat them off the floor, but she almost never eats them from the bowl. It’s a riot to watch, she’s got some pretty great aim and catching skills.

KathleenNovember 30, 2012, 12:54 pm

My yellow lab, Lemon, eats about 15 times a day, no exaggeration! Every time he goes outside for whatever reason, he gets a scoop of food. I swear he runs outside just so we have a reason to feed him. He must have a fast metabolism or something because he’s skinny!

KatieNovember 30, 2012, 12:54 pm

my dog will have a bowl full of food and will be completely disinterested in eating it until either someone in my family, or I go into the kitchen to get something to eat. while we’re sitting at the kitchen table eating, he’ll go over to his bowl and eat. i guess he doesn’t like dining alone!

DawnNovember 30, 2012, 12:54 pm

We have 2 cats. They each get a 1/4 can wet food in the evening, and there are kibbles available for grazing. We separate them for the wet food as one cat will scarf hers then bully the other away from his.

StacieNovember 30, 2012, 12:55 pm

When we first got our dog she ate her food like James. Then we started dogsitting for my parents (they dogsit for us too) and their dog eats like Maggie. So, what does our dog do? Now she eats BOTH ways depending on her day. Seriously…I would love to know what animals are thinking! Animals are truly the best 🙂

Thanks for the giveaway and for what you do. You are truly amazing and a blessing to many!! 🙂

sarah sNovember 30, 2012, 12:56 pm

my cat has radar for beef jerky. whenever it is anywhere in the house… she’ll make it her mission to find that cabinet/purse/grocery bag and attempt to rip open the bag!

KerryNovember 30, 2012, 1:02 pm

I recommend Trader Joe’s brand wet cat food. Our cats struggled with all sorts of health problems on the prescription wet food they were on, and when we switched them to the Trader Joe’s brand they are much happier and healthier! It was very surprising, but I assume it’s similar to realizing that you are lactose or gluten intolerant – some foods are just better for our bodies. And, it is pretty cheap!

Jennifer T.November 30, 2012, 1:02 pm

My cat does the same thing, takes out individual pieces of dry food onto the floor then eats it one at a time! My other cat looks at hm like he’s crazy and just chows down.

KassiaNovember 30, 2012, 1:08 pm

I have two cats. The one (Ella) takes a mouthful of food and drops it on the placemat next to her bowl. She then eats it off of the placemat piece-by-piece. The other cat (Lucy) is on a diet so she can trim down and maintain good health. As soon as she gets her “daily rations” each morning, she scarfs down every last bite of food. Animals are too funny.

We have three cats and a dog. The dog is pretty basic when it comes to eating but two out of the three cats are a bit quirky.

Our grey cat is the fattest cat on the planet and has a tiny pin head. He eats like every meal is his last and if his bowl is empty for a nano second he starts yapping like he will never eat another morsel again. So when he realizes he’s not getting any more than his allotment, he ventures over to the dog’s dish and starts in on her food. The dog doesn’t seem to mind.

Out youngest cat seems to have a depth perception problem. We keep our cat’s food on a table where the dog can’t get to it and the other cats hop right up. But for some reason our youngest cat can’t make it from the ground to a high surface very gracefully. He requires a “step stool.” So we have a cooler in the corner next to the table that he uses to get up and on the random chance we need the cooler and forget to replace it with a box or step ladder he will just sit beneath the table and meow every so quietly with eyes asking, “how am I supposed to get up there?”

Oh, cats!

Kelly E.November 30, 2012, 1:11 pm

Oh my goodness gracious! I have two cats and one dog, and the dog has been experiencing some killer allergies. I have been mixing up his food quite a bit to try to find grain free and alternative meat for him. Needless to say, he has shown his dislike for some of foods by placing the darker bits of kibbles outside his bowl. I will come in the room to find little dark bits dotting the floor, and the rest of the bowl is empty. I figured out that the darker bits were beets and sweet potatoes, and this sort of made me giggle. Picky eater!! My cats are pretty easy going, but have shown their dislike for certain food brands as well. Also, my one cat HAS to have wet food every morning. It’s a bad habit we started and I wish I’d have done it mid-day or in the evening instead! No more sleeping in for me – ever!! I am very fortunate that they all regulate their own food intake though – no scarfing food down. This makes it easy for me as I can fill their bowls and know none of them will overeat or make themselves sick on it. I find comfort in knowing I can fill their bowls with food while I’m gone and they won’t starve to death if something happens to me. (Hey, something ya gotta think about!) I’d love to win the gift card … I’m a PetsMart junky!

Our cat, Enzo, is obsessed with new bags of food. he once tore open a bag of food we left on the dining room table overnight. That was a challenge to get into the food bin, I’ll tell you what! If there is new food in the house he will not eat the “old” food, even though it is fine!

JordanNovember 30, 2012, 1:22 pm

I have three cats. The male, Cadbury, will only eat fresh food. It doesn’t matter how much is in the bowls, if he didn’t see you put it in there, he won’t eat it and will meow every time you go in the kitchen. Marshmallow only drinks water from her hand (after dipping it in the bowl) which means there’s always water on the floor. Reeses will eat anything, but scarfs it down so fast she later pukes it up on the carpet. Or the couch. No worries though, she eats it again so I don’t have to clean it up!

EmilyNovember 30, 2012, 1:26 pm

My cat likes the dog food more than his own. My dogs refuse to eat out of the bowl, they scoop up their food and take it over to the rug to eat. WEIRD.

MeganNovember 30, 2012, 1:27 pm

We literally have to sometimes “cheer” our dog Maddi on as she eats. She gets distracted easily so sometimes (if we’re not focusing on her), she’ll think that whatever we’re doing is more exciting than her food so she’ll forget that she’s supposed to be eating! She’s such a quirky dog, but we love her tons anyway!!

LaceyNovember 30, 2012, 1:32 pm

Although he has never been fed more than his regular two meals a day, my pug scratches at his food bowl every few hours to annouce he is ready for his next meal. Thanks for the giveaway!

Amanda.November 30, 2012, 1:34 pm

My Norwich terrier drops her food on the floor first and then eats it too! She also checks the other dogs bowl to make sure he finished his!

MelissaNovember 30, 2012, 1:36 pm

I consider my dog a grazer as he eats small amounts at a time every few hours or so and he also take his food out of the bowl and eats it off the ground!

Your furbabies are so darn cute!

ABNovember 30, 2012, 1:39 pm

My dog eats just like James. Takes some food out of the bowl and eats it on the carpet!

My cats Zoe and Lola LOVE having a special treat: canned food. They cry for it every night (but only get it every other night) and will even find the box and bat the can out of the box and push it over to one of us to open! We had to start putting the box on top of the fridge.

SineadNovember 30, 2012, 1:44 pm

My corgi will look at his dog food, then look up at me, waiting for me to sprinkle cheese on it. I am such a wuss because I give in everytime! He just won’t eat without some grated cheddar cheese…funny dog.

CaitlinNovember 30, 2012, 1:49 pm

Smart dog!

nancyNovember 30, 2012, 1:45 pm

All 3 of my animals are strange eaters. My Siamese cat will come wake me up when she decides it’s time for breakfast (she does that by repeatedly rubbing her head on some part of me and meowing in a volume only other Siamese owners can fully appreciate). She will eat only the food in her bowl unless someone is eating Cheerios (she will tap you on the shoulder repeatedly until you give her one) or, oddly, honey barbeque fritos (blame my husband for that). Our tabby cat has an unending appetite and eats her food, the other cat’s food and the dog food whenever she wants (they are so very afraid of her). She also insists on licking any container of greek yogurt she sees me pull out of the fridge and will hound me endlessly until I give her a piece of my lunchtime fish. Our dog has tummy issues and eats a very high quality organic food. Added to that he gets the leftovers of my kids eggs in the morning and some chicken or turkey in the evening (he particularly favors turkey burgers with shredded veggies in it). He is still very picky depending on the state of his tummy. As hard as we work to keep his food healthy and organic, he goes nuts when he smells Pup-Peroni. Thankfully he also loves peanut butter which we use to cover the numerous meds he gets every evening (he’s a rescue with so very many problems). Just like people, our animals definitely have their food quirks 🙂 Great idea, btw, to feed Pippa in the bathroom. Love to see people who take such care in loving their rescued animals 🙂

DeniseNovember 30, 2012, 1:48 pm

My rescued lovey dog, Tina is a yorkie and HILARIOUS to watch eat……she takes each kibble piece by piece and HIDES them around the house. The she proceeds to take THE REST OF THE DAY finding what she hid.

Plus, you can tell she starts to get PISSED if she can smell some kibble out and about but cant remember where she hid all of them.

The entertainment at my house is TOP NOTCH! ha-ha

PamNovember 30, 2012, 1:51 pm

My dog has a quirky habit right after he is finished with a meal. He will go to the middle of our family room and do his ceremonious belly flop roll. He will roll over and back a few times than get up shake off and go on about his day. So weird yet so funny, he is a tad OCD about making sure to get his roll on. 🙂 Thanks for the giveaway its very generous of you.

HannahNovember 30, 2012, 1:54 pm

I have a cat, whose name is Baby Gaga (and if you’re wondering, she’s MUCH more fierce than the actual Gaga), who LOVES to play fetch just like a pup. She started this when she was a kitten out of the blue and hasn’t stopped in the two years I’ve had her. It’s the cutest little trick and even more adorable from a kitty mow mow. 🙂

HannahNovember 30, 2012, 1:58 pm

Also just realized the comment should be about an eating quirk. I suppose I got too excited about Gaga’s skills. However, she does have a strange eating story too!

She has severe anxiety and takes prozac every night (yes, prozac). She is very particular about the mixture of wet food and prozac and requires I heat it up in the mircrowave before she will eat any of it. I’ve tried varying types of wet food and she turns her nose to it unless it’s the perfect temperature (I told you she was fierce!)

KatieNovember 30, 2012, 1:57 pm

My Golden/Lab mix eats his food pretty normally, but it’s when I give him little bites of my fruit that cracks me up. Bananas are the best – squishy, and you can’t tell if he’s enjoying it or not but he really wants to finish it.

JessicaNovember 30, 2012, 1:58 pm

I just wanted to comment on the cat getting some of the dog food – my vet told me that it is really bad for cats and dogs to eat each other’s food. I’m guessing yours told you it was okay? Just curious! My dog and cat try to sneak bites of one another’s food all the time and it drives me nuts!

Tiffany FargherNovember 30, 2012, 1:59 pm

Our dogs fight over who licks their dishes clean…glad to know they’re not alone! Anytime we give our dog Harleigh a treat(training bite, bone, a veggie piece) she immediately goes to the couch to eat it! It makes a mess always…crazy dog!

KileenNovember 30, 2012, 2:02 pm

My cat doesn’t like to drink water directly from his bowl. Instead he dips his paw in the bowl of water and then licks the water off his paw. So weird!

RyaneNovember 30, 2012, 2:05 pm

Our fatty fat fat cat is programmed to think anytime we come home he gets fed. So if I come home from work – whether it’s 4pm or 6pm – he follows me around with beggar eyes. When the BF gets home an hour or so later, Fatty does the same thing aaand on the off chance we end up heading back out, he is already expecting dinner #3!
If we are in the kitchen, NOT feeding him wet cat food, he will take to his kibble bowl (that is always full, he is never without food mind you) and crunch away quietly while taking breaks to look up at us with that, “see what you’re making me do???” face. Pathetic 16lb cat.

BarbaraNovember 30, 2012, 2:05 pm

My cat has a lot of funny habits – she’s actually just like a dog – greeting me at the door when I get home, needing to be on my lap at all times. She has this really funny habit recently of licking the sweat off of me when I workout to a fitness DVD – my face, armpit, leg…it doesn’t matter. Makes it difficult to do pushups, thats for sure.

PajNovember 30, 2012, 2:09 pm

My dog takes her kibble out of the bowl and spreads them on the floor before she decides which shapes to eat. Makes cleaning up more fun for me! lol

My kitty Henry Crank rubs his paws all over the surfaces surrounding his food bowls before he eats! I guess he’s claiming the food as his with his scent!

Anne Weber-FalkNovember 30, 2012, 2:22 pm

Ernie the cat is quite geriatric, nearly 19 now. He doesn’t have any food quirks but he does have one with his water. Every morning he gets both wet and dry food and a bowl of water. They are lined up in his eating area. One day my daughter had a glass of water on the coffee table in the living room and Ernie started to drink out of it so she freaked and then got him his own mini bowl of water and put it on the floor under that table. Ever since he will not drink out of his regular bowl of water, only from the mini bowl under the coffee table. Strange. But he is our good kitty and he is old so we do it for him.

My dog Buddy eats his food so fast that he can barely breathe, then about a minute after he’s finished he lets out the biggest burp of all time. I’ve gotten used to it, but whenever anyone else is in the house they cannot believe the noise that comes out of such a small animal.

My cat won’t eat treats out of my hand. I have to set them on the tile floor. If i put them on the rug he can’t find them. He’s a little slow, but he’s wonderful.

SaraNovember 30, 2012, 2:33 pm

My dogs sound very similar to yours! We have two beagles. My older beagle, Bailey, could care less about eating (who has ever heard of a beagle who doesn’t eat?!) and she actually went back to bed four out of the five mornings this week and skipped breakfast (they get 2 meals a day). I guess she liked Thanksgiving break and sleeping in… Our younger beagle, Emma, on the other hand won’t miss a meal and is skinny as a rail. Not only does she take the food out of her bowl onto the carpet… but she “hoovers” a mouthful and takes it from the kitchen to the living room carpet, spits it out and eats it. Gross. Then Bailey licks both bowls, whether she has eaten or not. Girl could live on crumbs.

My dog does the same thing as James. He picks up a few pieces with his mouth and then spits them out a few steps away from his bowl and eats them off the floor. At my old apartment, his bowl was at one end of the kitchen and he would travel with his food in his mouth to the other end to eat it. I guess that’s why he’s so thin! 😉

ErikaNovember 30, 2012, 2:36 pm

My Chihuahua, Juan Carlos, also likes to take his kibble out of his bowl one-by-one and eat them on the rug nearby. When he is done, he takes a sip of water, licks his food bowl, sips water, licks his food bowl, sips his water and then takes one last lick of his food bowl. Just to make sure he got every last crumb and taste out of that bowl before he lays down for the rest of the day. Ahhh, the life of a tiny 4 pound dog.

My dog eats exactly 1/2 of his food in the morning (seriously, he eats all the food on the left side of the bowl and then stops) and then eats the other 1/2 after the dog walker comes in the afternoon. On the weekend, when we’re home and the dog walker doesn’t come, he still only eats half in the morning. And then he remembers later in the afternoon that he’s really hungry and goes back for the rest.

WhitneyNovember 30, 2012, 2:37 pm

My pup loves going to DQ with us. She gets their puppy cone and gobbles it right up. It’s a special treat that she loves. She eats grain-free though, since she does have some allergies.

Beth B.November 30, 2012, 2:39 pm

My cat Marshmallow loves FEET! He loves to hang out under the dinner table and snuggle with everyone’s feet while we are eating. He’s like a dog.

NatalieNovember 30, 2012, 2:40 pm

My one bulldog will lick both his and our other bulldogs bowl for a good 15 minutes after we feed them. I guess he’s trying to get every last morsel but doubt there is any food residue after the first 30 seconds. Anyone home at the time we feed them would think he’s starving by the way licks the bowls spotless.

KellieNovember 30, 2012, 2:40 pm

My dog used to do that when I had her! She would take her food and drop it to another location. Problem was she never ate all that she brought over and there would be pieces all over the floor!

We have three dogs. One is never really interested in eating and does her own thing. The second dog likes to graze on hers throughout the day (she takes it kibble by kibble into the living room like James) and spends the rest of the day guarding it. When the cat or another dog goes towards the kitchen, she sprints after them to make sure they aren’t eating her food. The third dog is a food hound and wants to eat all the other dogs’ food. So he and the second dog made a deal that he can eat the first dog’s food…then he strategically waits until the second dog is no longer paying attention or is distracted by something else and hurriedly eats the second dogs food. He got really FAT before we realized he was eating 6 meals a day instead of two!!

My dog brings mouthfulls of food into the living room and then eats it also! I hate it!!!!

AndreaNovember 30, 2012, 2:58 pm

Our dog like to scoop his food out of his bowl with his paw, spraying it all over the kitchen, and then pounce down each piece individually and eat it. Talk about messy floors! Our cat’s weirdest habit is eating the dog’s food…I’m not sure why she does it, but it helps get to the pieces he can’t reach!

Rachael H.November 30, 2012, 3:00 pm

My cats are ridiculous. One is a siamese who is VERY vocal, but she gets bullied by my chunky male cat when it comes to food. He always tries to snatch her food, so I always have to intervene 🙂

Elizabeth M.November 30, 2012, 3:07 pm

My pup is such a picky eater!! Sometimes we throw in some dry food with her training treats so we aren’t feeding her a ridiculous amount of treats and she will spit it out. But not just like a regular dog, she somehow spits it up and to the side so it makes this huge arch as she does it. It’s hilarious!

tiffanyNovember 30, 2012, 3:12 pm

sometimes if i get a sample of dog food and we mix it in with my dog’s regular food (to avoid an upset stomach), she’ll sift through her food and eat all of the new food first. picky, picky.

AllisonNovember 30, 2012, 3:12 pm

My dog is the messiest water drinker. In fact, when he had a larger water bowl, he would put his paws in it. Now he just makes a big mess and dribbles water everywhere.

LeahNovember 30, 2012, 3:20 pm

My cat Basil is missing several teeth due to an accident he had before I adopted him. He is a very messy eater as a result. I still love him though.

AmyeNovember 30, 2012, 3:21 pm

Our dog Belle, blond dauchshund, will carry her food from the tile to the carpet to eat it. She is too funny! She tries to snach up any food my toddler has down at her level. She is a piglet too!

Hannah M.November 30, 2012, 3:28 pm

My cat, Castor, is a diabetic so he needs water constantly. After getting tired of him sneaking sips out of our water glasses on the coffee table, we gave Castor his own water glass! He prouldy drinks out of a Jack Daniel’s highball glass on the coffee table. Luckily, our friends know we are pet crazy and they don’t poke fun (any more, that is!).

KathyNovember 30, 2012, 3:34 pm

My dog does the same thing with his food. He takes three pieces of kibble out of the bowl, takes it to the room we are in, drops them, and eats them one by one. He always likes eating near us. He is so weird.

ErinNovember 30, 2012, 3:35 pm

Our dog will drink all of the water in the bowl by his food, all of the water in the cat’s fountain, and then drink the water in his bucket outside when we let him out! He’s a big boy….

Sam has this funny thing where he (dog) will start drooling…and drooling… and drooling until he forms 4+ inch long drool lines. We call him Saber Tooth Samuel. He is my sweet baby black lab who is also sick right now because he got some Giardia from mucky water while out camping 🙁

We have two dogs, Coaly and Hailey. Hailey gets less food and always devours hers first. Coaly stands around and waits for Hailey to finish eating, and then she waits even longer while Hailey is salivating over her food – she’s such a tease! Finally she will dig in and slowly eat her food while Hailey stares. As soon as Coaly is done, Hailey dives in and licks the bowl the entire way across the dining room. Gotta love our pups, right?! 🙂

FaithNovember 30, 2012, 3:51 pm

We recently added a new fur baby to our home: Sir Paw McCartney. He is super sweet and cute; however, he has the most ANNOYING habit of hitting his food out of his bowl and chasing it around the room before eating it. We think it’s because of the instinct of catching his prey before eating it? No idea. But he was an adult when we got him, so I doubt we’ll break him of the habit. 🙂

BrynneNovember 30, 2012, 3:52 pm

I feed my dog simon (a terrier, dauschund, chihuahua mix) and he will only eat if I stand in the kitchen with him. If I leave the food out and go to work, he won’t eat until I get home. I also have to watch because the cat likes the dog food and we have the cat food in another room because Simon eats the cat food.

KristyNovember 30, 2012, 6:59 pm

Oh man. This must get kind of tiring & a bit annoying. What if you go out of town?

AllieNovember 30, 2012, 3:53 pm

My dog likes to cuddle before bed. If I try to put him in his kennel before he’s had his cuddle, he runs to the bedroom instead. Then, even if we’ve only had a couple minutes of cuddle time, I can say, “go to bed” and he’ll run right to his kennel.

ChristineNovember 30, 2012, 4:11 pm

Our cats will dip their paw into your coffee mug to try and taste what’s inside.

kristin s.November 30, 2012, 4:13 pm

My kitty will paw at the food till it drops on the floor then eat it. Everyday there’s food that she missed and we step on it

Jabba the Hutt (my 26 lb cat) should be on a diet but I am bad about giving in to him when he looks hungry. Anyway, he only eats seafood flavored items, every time I put down something chicken or beef he just looks at it and looks at me, then looks at it again and looks at me again then proceeds to walk away. Grr. He only eat catnip flavored treats also.

KarenKNovember 30, 2012, 4:25 pm

Our 15 year old cat will eat her dry food down to the bowl but only in the middle. You have to then shake the bowl to redistribute the food or else she won’t eat it. She’s just a little bit spoiled!

Joanne GregoryNovember 30, 2012, 4:31 pm

My border collies can be pretty funny but they take their meals quite seriously. Gobble it up quickly before the other one gets done and comes shopping!

LauraNovember 30, 2012, 4:33 pm

We have a lot of animals (they were rescues and I’m a sucker for a cute face 🙂 ), and most of them have to be fed separately (which is funny, because most of our cats were kittens together and could eat together then, but we found that as adults certain kitties don’t end up getting much (if any) food and the more alpha kitties get more than their share. So separate it is! We help with a couple of local rescues, and it has been very helpful in getting a good feeding routine down for our pets (you have to have one or it’s chaos!).

First, we feed the dogs–my husband walks them while I get the food ready, then they eat (separately–our Alpha female in the main kitchen, our submissive male in the powder room). Then they’re briefly walked again and I get the cat food ready. Our two most assertive kitties still eat together (separate bowls but they almost always end up sharing, and another kitty eats in his crate nearby (it provides enough protection from the assertive kitties and he ends up eating all of his food this way. He’ll actually jump in his crate around meal time to “remind” me that he wants his food 🙂 ). Our shyest kitty eats in the powder room–routine is really important to her, and we had a hard time feeding her on a daily basis before we found a good routine for her. She’ll run in the powder room and wait for her food, and then we close the door for about 15 minutes so the other cats don’t eat her food before she’s done. She was super skinny and is still small, but is a healthy weight now.

And finally, we adopted one last kitty earlier this year–she eats on top of the trash can (it’s one of those with a pedal and a lid), and it’s like a little a kitty pedestal where she feels safe and the other cats don’t bother her while she’s up there.

It sounds really complicated, but it only takes about 15 minutes to feed everyone and it’s a smooth process. Before we had a routine it would take forever to get the shy kitty to eat while keeping the other kitties out of her food. Now, it’s like clockwork every night 🙂

KateNovember 30, 2012, 4:37 pm

We just adopted my sister-in-law’s dog and let’s just say- she’s a pig! We have to feed my older, slower-eating dog in a completely different room or else the new dog will eat all his food. Then, 5 minutes after eating she’ll give us the sad puppy dog face as if she didn’t just chow through an entire bowl!

Laura C.November 30, 2012, 4:40 pm

I feed my two cats in the morning while the dog goes outside. They get wet food every morning and it’s a race to the finish to see who can eat theirs first. Usually the younger (and slightly smaller) cat will finish first and start eating the bigger cat’s food. Also, if i happen to go back to bed after feeding them, they seem to think it’s a reset button on breakfast and want fed again when I get up.

olympiaNovember 30, 2012, 5:14 pm

My cat Ira is another one who likes to drop kibble pieces onto the floor to eat them- I theorize it’s because he’s a Persian, and it’s easier for him to eat off the floor with his short little snout (I learned recently that there’s kibble made specifically for short-snouted breeds). I free feed dry Innova to both Ira and my cat Oliver (who has a standard length nose), and also split a can of Wellness wet between the two of them each morning. I’d really prefer they eat more wet, but they’re insanely picky about the stuff- really only get enthused about it if it has gravy, and then they eat around the chunks. What the two of them REALLY love is nutritional yeast- they go crazy for it! They get it as a treat.

AshleeNovember 30, 2012, 5:15 pm

We recently rescued our 2nd golden retriever from a family that couldn’t afford him – could only feed him rice! Cooper, the big baby, loves his food and didn’t want Oliver, new baby, to eat any of his food so he was inhaling it and choking. We now have to put a rubber bone in Cooper’s bowl to slow him down. Now they both can enjoy their food without choking. 🙂

ashNovember 30, 2012, 5:25 pm

Love maggie! I have a mini doxie who eats her food one piece at a time throughout the day!

our maltipoo is a super picky eater, so we’ll mix a little bit of veggies, brown rice, or eggs with his dog food. he’ll eat all the “good” food first, and then finishes the dog food around 10pm when there’s nothing else, lol.

CellabellaNovember 30, 2012, 5:29 pm

I love the quirks! My little pooch isn’t too keen on raw veggies, like if I offer her a bit of lettuce and or a fresh pea, she won’t eat it. But if I’m cooking in the kitchen she thinks whatever I’m making is “special,” so if I drop a fresh pea on the floor by accident, she’ll gobble it up like it’s the best thing she’s ever eaten. She’s eaten quite a few peas because of these.

SarahNWNovember 30, 2012, 5:34 pm

Special Agent Dale Cooper (or Cooper, as we call him in real life!) doesn’t have any weird food habits, but he does eat my panties and then barf them up three days later. Does that count?

Emily G.November 30, 2012, 5:36 pm

My dog, Little Man, is a PICKY little booger. When I got him he was super tiny – and I didn’t think he could handle dry dog food. As he got older and bigger I tried to transition him to dry food and he did not want any part of that. He would grab ONE piece of dry food, run to the other side of room, eat it, and run back to his bowl again and again. I then tried switching to a brand that had hard and soft pellets of food and I’ll be damned if he didn’t pick through the bowl and eat JUST the soft bites.

I have given up and give him wet food now but he only gets 1 can a day (he’s only 5 pounds). I have a bowl of dry food if he eats all his wet food and get’s hungry later on. And don’t dare switch dog foods on him – I thought cleaning up a dirty baby diaper was bad. You have no idea how bad dog poop is until you change your dog’s wet food brand.

BeckyNovember 30, 2012, 5:55 pm

Our dog is just like James. She brings her food into the living room and drops it. She usually doesn’t eat it all so we have 2-4 pieces of nibble on the floor at any given time. Might be a problem when our little one starts crawling 🙂

MelissaNovember 30, 2012, 5:55 pm

Our dog, bently, loves to slurp his water on the run. He drinks it on the go, meaning it drips everywhere! He’s a mess.

MBNovember 30, 2012, 6:16 pm

If we spill dry cat food while filling her bowl, kitty will eat the bits off the floor before moving onto the stuff in the bowl – she likes her eating space to be tidy!

SierraNovember 30, 2012, 6:26 pm

One of my cats will only drink water from a glass. Another cat absolutely loves nutritional yeast. If I have meds I have to give her, I crush them up, mix in some nutritional yeast, and she gobbles it down no problem!

CassidyNovember 30, 2012, 6:31 pm

We have two cats, a boy and a girl. Outside of mealtime, they do not associate with each other. During dinnertime though, the boy will chow down on his food quickly and then look pleadingly at the girl – as if to ask her for some of her serving!

KristyNovember 30, 2012, 6:42 pm

I have two dogs. A doxie & a mutt. The mutt, Shaggy, does the same thing as James. Piece by piece on the floor. They each have their own water & food bowls but always eat out of the one that isn’t there’s. Oakley out of Shaggys & Shaggy out of Oakleys. I love my crazy pups!

MariNovember 30, 2012, 6:43 pm

I’ve got two pups: Mauka, who is a four-year-old lab/husky mix and LeiLaniKai who is an almost two-year-old golden. Mauka takes his kibble out of the bowl and makes these geometric shapes with them lol. He puts three pieces in either straight lines or a triangle. I wonder what he’s trying to communicate?! And when you give him a chip, pretzel, or cracker, he pretends to bury it with his nose. If Lani walks by with the snack still on the ground, he dashes over and eats it before she has a chance. If I give them both bones, Lani barks at Mauka until he gives her his bone. Even though they are identical, she wants whatever he has (toys inckuded)!

My dogs check out each other’s bowls to make sure it is the same thing and no one got more then the other. Then they will start to eat.

JennNovember 30, 2012, 6:53 pm

My dogs love to eat! Boozer is great at catching treats when we throw them up in the air. He has the quickest reflexes ever. Lola, our other dog, usually just gets hit in the head by whatever treat we throw her way. She has a tendancy to spit out things she doesn’t like then gives us the evil eye for feeding her such offensive food.

JamieNovember 30, 2012, 7:05 pm

My cat “herds” me into the kitchen when his bowl is empty. It’s really funny how he maneuvers himself..maybe he was a sheepdog in a former life!

HeidiNovember 30, 2012, 7:14 pm

My cat Domino drinks in a really strange way. First she spends about 5-10 minutes sitting at her water dish, soaking her paws kitty pedicure style. She just sits there with her paws in the dish. So weird. Then after she has determined that her paw fur has soaked up enough water she picks up one paw at a time and sucks the water off of it. Strange, but true. I keep saying I’m going to get her one of those rabbit water bottles thingies so she can try drinking that way because lapping out of a bowl clearly doesn’t work for her! 😉 (Side note: This drinking style often results in a wet kitchen floor so I go through at least 3 pairs of socks a day because I inevitably step in the water and I can’t stand wet socks!!!)

KimNovember 30, 2012, 7:20 pm

My dog Ellie flat out refuses to eat her food unless there is water mixed in. There are days where she will just lay in front of her bowl and play dead until I put even the smallest drop of water into her dry food and then she will gobble it all up!

LindsayNovember 30, 2012, 7:22 pm

Hank is a very very slow eater but he’s so gentle when he takes food out of your hand. It’s adorable. Pinto always acts like he hasn’t been fed in weeks. When we’re eating food and he wants some, he drools uncontrollably.

KatieNovember 30, 2012, 7:24 pm

My yellow lab Paisley loves peanut butter and bananas. She could be on another floor and will hear the peanut butter jar open or you peel a banana and she is instantly by your side. But when I yell her name to get her attention when she’s 3 feet from me she acts like she can’t Hear me. I’m on to you dog! 🙂

ChrissyNovember 30, 2012, 7:28 pm

Our dog takes the larger pieces of chicken out of her food bowl first. She throws them up in the air, one at a time, and pounces on them as if she was killing her prey. It is hysterical! She then goes back to her bowl and eats a few smaller pieces of food, but once she finds a big one, she throws and pounces again. Love it!

MelissaNovember 30, 2012, 7:28 pm

For some reason, my dog, Oliver, always has to bring his food from his bowl in the kitchen into the living room and tends to eat it there. I’ve always wondered why.

JenPNovember 30, 2012, 7:45 pm

Our two cats always lick each other’s bowls after they eat.

JessiNovember 30, 2012, 7:52 pm

Ceci the puggle will go after cat food like it’s a drug. She’s so well behaved…until there’s cat food in the room. ESPECIALLY wet cat food. First we used to put the cat food on the table, but Ceci found ways to get up. We had to move chairs around, but she’d move them to where she wanted and get up. Then we decided to move the cat food to the counter, and SOMEHOW, there were no chairs in the kitchen, just the tall garbage pail, my little puggle launched herself onto the counter and licked that bowl CLEAN (the cats never do this, that’s how I deduced she got on the counter).

I have one cat, with urinary issues, so we do half and half. She gets one small can of fancy feast for breakfast. Then her special, crunchy bladder food the rest of the day.

JenNovember 30, 2012, 8:17 pm

Blythe, she would do better if you gave her more Fancy Feast (or other wet) and less crunchy bladder food! The crunchy stuff is the cause of her bladder issues…trust me on this (I went thru it with one of my cats, who now eats 100% wet food)

my dog does a weird eating thing too! her bowl is in the kitchen, but she takes a little mouthful of her food then walks it over to the front door before eating it. repeat.

EricaNovember 30, 2012, 8:42 pm

My pup will completely ignore his bowl of food at times but if I make him work for it by doing tricks he will do every trick in his aresenal…. Even when the full bowl is sitting next to him and he could easily eat his kibble without performing.

GabbyNovember 30, 2012, 8:45 pm

My dog (maybe all dogs) loves cheese. If we so much as open that drawer of the refrigerator she comes running.

KatieNovember 30, 2012, 8:50 pm

My cat, Goose, likes to lick all the gravy up from wet food and leave the chunks of actual meat–what a weirdo! 🙂

Alexandra RodriguezNovember 30, 2012, 8:51 pm

one of my dogs hides his food bowl under his bed when my other dog is around. The other dog rubs her face on the carpet immediately after eating haha.

KathrynNovember 30, 2012, 8:52 pm

Tucker always leaves just a little bit of food in his bowl. We think its his way of making sure he doesnt starve 🙂

abbyNovember 30, 2012, 8:53 pm

My cat is actually extremely picky. He loves his dry food, could really care less about wet food unless its a brand new can ( I think he likes it room temperature) and he will only eat a teaspoon amount. He will also only drink water from the Bathroom sink…… He REFUSES water from anywhere else, so that is where is bowl stays: next to my toothbrush……

Stephanie CNovember 30, 2012, 8:57 pm

When our dog was a puppy, we had to HAND feed her because she refused to eat out of a bowl. When she finally learned to eat out of a bowl, she would then only eat if we were standing right next to her. That gradually led to exactly what James is doing.. she’ll go eat her food and bring it over to us, drop it on the floor and start crunching away. She also will only drink her water from the edge of the water bowl. She loves to eat baby carrots, tomatoes, bananas and bell peppers. She can tell if I’m cutting carrots or bell peppers and will run from where she is in the house to sit right next to me.
Right now we just switched her to a new food called Ziwi Peak.. it’s an almost raw dry dog food (they dehydrated, but it’s not quite dehydrated.. I think they just dry it out in a natural way). We had to do this because she’s had some skin problems even on the fancy stuff (she was on Orijin for a while, but after a few years it started to not agree with her – i was told most dogs actually need to be switched after a while because it messes with their digestive system). This food is purely venison and I’ve never seen her more interested in her food. Now she’ll wait over by her food bowl when she knows it’s time to eat and will walk to her food bin and point her nose at it to make sure we get it 😉

AshleyNovember 30, 2012, 9:05 pm

I have an electric cat feeder and my cats proceed to put their paws up the chute to get more food all day long!! They are very chubby lol

Ashley KNovember 30, 2012, 9:18 pm

My cat has to have her bowl up off the ground and she refuses to eat as soon as you put the food down, she has to nibble throughout the day

LisaNovember 30, 2012, 9:45 pm

Our siamese kitty went ballistic over turkey at thanksgiving and came to see if it was her turn to eat whenever we’d open the refrigerator to get anything (leftovers or other things). She also sits right behind our chairs while we eat dinner, and even sat down on a dining chair and has poked her little cat head up over the table to watch us eat.

NikkiNovember 30, 2012, 9:46 pm

Our cat won’t eat if he can see the bottom of the bowl (even if it has a TON of food in it). If he sees the yellow, he starts rationing the food and freaking out – all you have to do is go knock it around so he can’t see the bottom anymore!

No, the crunch for teeth is a misconception and wrong. You need to seriously get on http://www.catinfo.org because Lisa Pierson knows her stuff.

KristinNovember 30, 2012, 10:30 pm

Between the dog and two cats meal time can become a feeding frenzy at my house. The cats want the dog food. The dog wants the cat food. I once found my 80 lb Rottweiler mix standing on top of the kitchen table chowing down on a bowl of fancy feast while the cat was on the floor nibbling away at the dog food. Crazy animals! 🙂

MicheleNovember 30, 2012, 10:34 pm

My cat somehow knows when I am eating anything with sour cream. He can be sound asleep and I take out the sour cream and he comes running because he wants some. I have also taught him to stand on his hind legs when I give him his treats.

Becca HNovember 30, 2012, 11:00 pm

My dog will only eat if the food bowl is on the left and water on the right. If switched then he just looks at it till I change them. No barking

Lauren GarrettNovember 30, 2012, 11:11 pm

My little love bug thinks his food tastes better when I hand feed him! It was soooo cute at first but a year later I’m over it lol! He has no shame and will whine by the bowl until someone comes to him!

MayDecember 1, 2012, 10:36 am

My dog loves to be hand fed too! It’s hilarious. Sometimes she won’t eat (she’s just weird that way) so I’ll sit by her bowl on the floor and she’ll come to me and eat out of my hands. After a few minutes of this, she usually realizes she’s STARVING and then eats everything in her bowl by herself. 🙂

LindseyNovember 30, 2012, 11:40 pm

My cat eats deli turkey every morning with sweet tea. He waits by his bowl as soon as the coffee maker goes off. Not exactly sure how healthy that is, but it makes him happy 😛

ClaireNovember 30, 2012, 11:49 pm

Our cat Princess Nina loved broccoli. Also if I brough wholemeal rolls and didn’t put them away straight away I would find her on the bench chewing through the bag to eat them. What can I say, she likes her healthy foods. She went missing a couple of months ago, we’re still hoping she might one day show up again.

Our dog Nugget eats his and our other dog Molly’s poo. Really. It is totally disgusting. I forgive him though because he is a lovely boy. I think Molly forgives him too, arthritic old girl that she is (even though she still thinks she is a puppy).

AliNovember 30, 2012, 11:55 pm

Not really a weird habit, but a weird thing. I have a grain free dog! He was horribly ill and after hinds of dollars in tests in a last ditch effort, we tried grain free food. A week later he was good as new.

although winning the gift card would be sweet, I’m mostly commenting because I’m so glad someone else’s dog drops food on the floor before eating it!! my smaller dog does that, and it annoys the heck out of me. I love hearing the stories about your dogs, because their personalities are so similar to my two, I can commiserate. 🙂
(And, as a side note- the stories about how the dogs adjusted to Henry helped ease my anxiety about my dogs when I was pregnant with my daughter. She’s 9 weeks today, and the adjustment has went pretty well for both dogs. so thanks for writing about that. and, well, everything else, haha. love your blog!)

EliseDecember 1, 2012, 3:13 am

Sometimes we feed my dog on a paper plate (when she’s traveling or her bowl is being washed) and she likes to tug the plate out from under her food and dump all her food on the floor! And we free feed her (so she doesn’t eat everything in her dish) so we either have to scoop it all up and put it back in a dish or let it sit there until she wants to eat again.

I don’t know if you’d call it a weird eating habit, but Clyde is not one of those dogs that waits for food time and eats everything in his bowl at once. He kind of grazes or suddenly he decides he wants food and goes over and eats some, so we actually keep food in his bowl most of the time since he can’t seem to decide when he wants to eat. He also does this fake sneeze thing when he is watching us eat and wants human food. It’s pretty funny.

KatherineDecember 1, 2012, 7:47 am

My dog Emma eats twice a day and chows down every last morsel immediately! My girl loves to eat!!

HollyDecember 1, 2012, 7:58 am

My cat Alice refuses to eat wet food. After I fill up her bowl with dry food, she will sit and eat out of the bowl if I’m in the room, but as soon as I leave, she will tip the bowl over and eat the food that scattered on the ground (also annoying for the clean floor-obsessed)!

My cat, Macey, MUST have the bottom of her dish covered with food,even if she’s not hungry.

MaryBethDecember 1, 2012, 9:30 am

My dog Oscar doesnt really have any funny eating habits. But I do enjoy when we pour his bag of dog food into his dog food storage container… he gets his face right in there with his mouth wide open hoping to catch anything he can!

Amy OrvinDecember 1, 2012, 9:35 am

My puppy is so picky! She only eats out of my hand , never in a bowl , unless it’s cat food. Thank you for the giveaway!

MayDecember 1, 2012, 10:33 am

My little doggie does so many weird things! She also does something very similar to your dog and the kibbles. She takes kibbles out of her bowl (and usually drops a few on the way) as she runs into the other room. Once there, she drops them all in that room and eats them 1 by 1. Then she races back to her bowl in the first room to get more-on her way back to her bowl if she notices she had dropped any kibbles on the way out, she stops for a snack. It is so funny!

I have 3 dogs and instead of just using all three food bowls we have for them, they’ll get in a line and take turns eating out of only one of the bowls. So silly!

KritDecember 1, 2012, 1:11 pm

My cat Oreo eats a bite of food, takes another bite and drops it on the floor (but doesn’t eat it) and then does it all over again. It drives me crazy! 🙂

JVDecember 1, 2012, 2:42 pm

Our German Shepard is so picky account accepting treats from strangers. She usually accepts a bone or treat if at the farmers market, for example, and then she promptly spits it out!

BetsyDecember 1, 2012, 2:44 pm

Our cat loves to drink water straight from the faucet – sink or bathtub! He actually prefers this to a dish. Thanks for the giveaway!

SaraDecember 1, 2012, 3:42 pm

My chihuahua/rat terrier takes every treat to a rug (I have hardwood floors). He doesn’t want to eat it on the linoleum in the kitchen or on hardwood floors; he’ll go however far he needs to in order to eat in on a rug or something soft!

LeahDecember 1, 2012, 3:44 pm

my dog takes food out of her bowl then walks to the rug in the living room to eat it!

JessicaDecember 1, 2012, 3:58 pm

My dog does the same thing! Loves to grab her food out of her bowl and drop it on the kitchen floor or bring it right next to my feet. Too funny!

Both of my dogs would carry their dog food from the kitchen into the living room, drop it on the floor, eat the pile, go back into the kitchen to scoop up another bite, and repeat.

MeganDecember 1, 2012, 6:37 pm

I’ve got two miniature dachshunds: Recon and Reagan. I had to laugh at this post because like James, my Recon does the same thing.

Recon picks up a bunch of kibble and drops it all over the floor. Now mind you, the floor MUST be carpet. He won’t drop it on tile or any other type of hard surface. And then…. he rolls all over his food. Yes, you heard me right. He rolls on it. Don’t ask me why. He’s a freak of nature.

LOL

CristinaDecember 1, 2012, 6:37 pm

My boy dog eats his entire meal in under 30 seconds and then sits and watches the girl dog eat until she is done. If she walks away for even a second, he pounces on her dish and will eat any leftovers.

ErinDecember 1, 2012, 6:52 pm

Our 2 yo chocolate lab, Joby, loves fruits and vegetables so much that he comes running any time he hears the fridge drawers open. He loves broccoli, carrots, snap peas, all squash, sweet potatoes, apples and bananas just as much as his store bought meat-flavored treats. His new fave is canned pumpkin, so he gets some of that on his food after long runs as a treat 🙂

My one cat Gracie does the same thing as James except sometimes she takes a mouthful into another room and drops them all before she begins to eat. This especially bugs me when she eats on the carpet, yuck. <3 them and all their quirks though!

My dog always has to be in the middle of everything, so he will fill his mouth with food, come into whatever room my husband and I are in and drop it on the floor and then eat it. Repeat until bowl is clean.

melinda m.December 1, 2012, 8:29 pm

Not exactly a funny eating habit… but when our beagle, Hank, is finished he walks around and belches SO loud. Always cracks me up in the morning. 🙂

DebbieDecember 1, 2012, 10:05 pm

Sadie will eat so fast she forgets to drink and almost chokes.

BeckyDecember 1, 2012, 10:08 pm

Every time we open the freezer our Boston Terrier Molly comes running. She know she can get a frozen vegetable each time it opens!

Holy wow the number of comments!
I don’t need the gift card at all (unless my school starts allowing pets in the next month), but when we had a puppy, he ate like James–he’d take some of his food and drop it on the ground near his bowl before eating it. We had a little rug under his food and water bowls, and the food would always end up near the corner of the rug. Weird, but kind of hilarious.

Nadine M.December 1, 2012, 11:00 pm

We have a 10 month old beagle/coonhound mix and he can be very finicky in the morning and sometimes doesn’t eat his food right away. So when I get impatient waiting for him to eat I put a small handful of food in the middle of the kitchen…and he runs up and starts playing with his food (batting at it around the kitchen) when he does start eating his food he picks up the food in his mouth throws it up in the air and then chases after it–its quite hilarious to watch.

LaurenDecember 2, 2012, 12:17 am

We have 2 dogs and 1 cat. Our cat, Pookie, eats her food on a desk in the hall so the dogs won’t bother her or steal her food. Cotton is a lab and he eats his bowl of food as fast as possible and then usually comes in my room to burp! Denali is a smaller mixed breed and takes a few kibble pieces out of his bowl and drops them on the floor and repeats this over and over. He usually gets distracted before all his food is eaten so I have to hide it from Cotton!

IleneDecember 2, 2012, 2:54 am

Chasing after each and every new member of the household he meets…all night long!

I tried feeding our female tortoishell dry food once and she – almost deliberately – vomited on the carpet far away from where she was eating, right in front of us? I personally think that was all some royal plan so she’d never have to eat it again lol 😛 And there I was thinking she was dim.

KarlaDecember 2, 2012, 7:33 am

Our 4 year old German Shepherd will rush over to start eating but then stop and look back to see if we’ve eaten yet. If not, he’ll usually wait around a bit until we eat before he starts wolfing down his meal… like he’s saving us some of his food to make sure that we get fed too.. so considerate 🙂

KellyDecember 2, 2012, 7:55 am

Our dog, Hendrix, will take food from her bowl then drop it on the floor of our living room or dining room to eat it. Sometimes she’ll eat strictly from her bowl, but we can’t figure out what makes her want to take her meal somewhere else occasionally. I guess dogs needs to go out to eat too sometimes!

AlexaDecember 2, 2012, 9:23 am

Every time my cat Rex finishes eating, he scratches directly in front of his bowl to “bury” the leftovers for later. No other pets in the house, so I’m not sure who he is hiding it from, but I get a kick out of it.

Our cats don’t have any funny eating habits although they do each get a plate with some wet food every evening and they wait (and TALK) like dogs while I’m preparing it. So funny! Then Franklin (our $6,000 cat, he’s broken/fractured his leg twice poor thing) likes to swoop in and try to get extra food from Wilbur. They are awesome, we love them!

But when we had our Basset Hound, he would take his kibble and throw it into the dining room or living room and bark at it for EVER before he would eat it. We still watch that video. Miss that dog so much.

We have three dogs. Our female pug will also pick up food and set it on the floor before eating it. She also walks around, while eating. Our big mix breed dog will try to swoop in and eat the female pug’s food, if given the chance. The big dog licks all of the bowls clean after the other dogs finish too.

KatieDecember 2, 2012, 2:09 pm

Sometimes my dog won’t eat unless I hand feed him 🙂

Nicole GDecember 2, 2012, 2:53 pm

My puppy is the most anxious, neurotic dog. She is the best but she is afraid of EVERYTHING. The only thing she’ll conquer her fears for is food – she’ll pass anything scary for a tasty treat =)

JayneDecember 2, 2012, 6:19 pm

My 90 lb dog chews each bite of food for nearly a minute before swallowing it. Such a careful eater, particularly compared to me…

Lauren TackettDecember 2, 2012, 6:44 pm

My 16 year old Pomeranian, Casey, has come close to death several times now, and everytime we end up feeding him anything and everything if he will eat it (besides food that will harm him like chocolate!). We just wanted him to be comfortable and happy in his last days, but he hasn’t passed away yet (yay! and he is doing quite well for a 16 year old dog). But now that he knows about all this delicious people food like chicken, steak, gyros, etc. he won’t eat his own dog food very well. The only way he will eat it is if you hand feed him, but he would still rather have some of what you’re eating. He’s a big pest whenever we eat, but I’ll take it as long as he’s still around 🙂
I love hearing your funny animal stories by the way!

Sarah BETHDecember 2, 2012, 7:11 pm

My Corgi pup, Tina, eats one piece at a time like that too! Under the kitchen table, then, goes back for another piece…super annoying when you are trying to leave in a hurry and need the pup to go back in the “closed off area” of the house!

DDDecember 2, 2012, 8:07 pm

their shark-like behavior when it’s treat time is crazy. Also they are afraid of slick hardwood floors, so they run across as quickly as possible

My poor Fat Kitty was homeless (and abused) as a kitten so when I rescued him it became pretty clear he has an eating disorder. He scarfs his food so fast and then throws it up. 🙁 I’ve discovered a new way of feeding them–I put the dry cat food on a flat plate and it makes him slow down to eat it!

My cat goes CRAZY when I make eggs! She meows and whines and she’ll sniff me for a long time after the meal is over.

WehafDecember 3, 2012, 1:41 am

My younger dog eats all his food in about 30 seconds, and then hovers over the older dog’s bowl, just in case…

NinaDecember 3, 2012, 8:30 am

Fwiw the dry food dental connection is false, the only plus side of dry food is the price. My cats get a varied diet. Neither of the are finnecky because I’ve been feeding them a variety of wet foods since I adopted them. In some very high qualiyt brands it really is ok to mix dog/cat food (I buy the huge dog bags of ZiwiPeak raw for my cats!) but you really have to check the brand to make sure.

Erin A.December 3, 2012, 12:49 pm

Milo will not even pause to take a breath while eating. Tucker on the other hand, has to be hand fed one piece at a time or he will NOT touch his food. Such a princess.

Sometimes when our dog is extra tired/lazy in the morning, he will actually eat his breakfast laying down. (See photo linked below via my blog.) It’s hilarious! The funny thing is, we have a highly energetic german shorthaired pointer. This guy could run all day long! But he takes a while to get going in the morning. 😉

I’m not a Registered Dietitian (RD). For specific medical counseling, please contact a Registered Dietitian or your doctor. My blog posts are based on my own personal knowledge, experience, and opinions. This website's privacy policy is available here.